Lululemon launches new Chargefeel sneakers

Lululemon is continuing its push into footwear with a women-first approach with the launch of its Chargefeel sneakers, a cross-training workout shoe, following the success of the Blissfeel, its first-ever running shoe earlier this year.

In March 2022, Lululemon officially entered the footwear category to offer head-to-toe solutions. For its footwear, it has applied its 20-plus years of designing innovative athletic wear to create what it calls the “best-feeling footwear,” as it looks to shrink the gender shoe gap, as most athletic shoes are designed for a man’s foot and then shrunk down for women.

With a focus on its female customers first, the sportswear brand has built its footwear shoe shape from scratch based on scans of more than a million feet and refined the silhouette to ensure that it is comfortable and supportive during training.

“We intentionally started with women first because we saw an opportunity to solve for the fact that, more often than not, performance shoes are designed for men and then adapted for women,” said Lululemon chief product officer Sun Choe in a statement. “That didn’t sit well with us. Innovating for women is in lululemon’s DNA—now we’re bringing that same expertise to footwear, and women were part of this journey every step of the way.”

Lululemon continues women-first approach to new footwear offering

Every shoe in its new footwear collection has been designed to deliver “a feeling,” explains Lululemon. Featuring premium upper materials, foam compounds, construction methods and colours for the perfect balance of cushioning and support to ensure "a zero-distraction experience" for wearers.

While the Blissfeel was geared for running, Lululemon’s newest shoe, the Chargefeel, marks a significant development in the workout shoe category, a cross-training style designed for people who workout in lots of different ways but want one shoe to handle it all.

Lululemon’s research reveals that most women participate in more than one sweat activity per week and the Chargefeel aims to support multi-directional movements across multiple activities, whether for running, training, HIIT, or on the go.

The Chargefeel defies typical cross-training construction by leading with the bounce and forward motion required in a running shoe, then rounding out with the stabilising side-to-side motion of a training shoe. This is all made possible by a dual-density foam layering system that reduces the impact on the joints while being springy enough for running and agile enough for training.

The workout shoe is available in low-top and mid-top versions, for 128 pounds/138 US dollars and 138 pounds/148 US dollars, respectively, in 14 colourways and US sizes 5 to 11. The main difference between the two versions is that the mid-style Chargefeel shoe features a mesh sock-like mid-cut collar for enhanced mobility and flexibility.

Alongside the Blissfeel and Chargefeel, Lululemon has also introduced the Restfeel, an elevated slide for post-workout. Later in the year, it will add the Strongfeel, a training shoe designed for multi-directional movement that features a low profile, supportive midsole with a multi-directional outsole and an upper that locks the foot in place.

"We have always designed for women-first, not women-also. Footwear is no exception,” adds Lululemon. “Over four years of research and development went into shifting the focus from the shoes to the humans wearing them. The result: a women-first footwear collection that feels like nothing else.”

Lululemon’s women's footwear offering is available online and in select stores across the UK, the US, and mainland China.