When it comes to workout clothing brands, it's easy to look at Lululemon and Alo and lump them into the same category. They are priced for a similar income bracket and both offer athleisure that's highly flattering and that easily transitions between the gym and the rest of your day.
But if you take a closer look at Alo vs. Lululemon, there are actually a lot of nuanced differences between their offerings and target demographics. And if you wear their apparel yourself, you may quickly realize there is a huge disparity in the quality and performance of their gear. I've tested both Lululemon and Alo myself in fitness classes, on runs and on leisurely days lounging around the house, and I can attest: While both brands have their niche markets, when it comes to athletic apparel, there's a very clear winner.
Lululemon was launched in 1998 in Vancouver, Canada, when Chip Wilson noticed there was a major need for better fitting, better performing clothing to support the yoga craze in North America. Out the gate, the cornerstone of Lululemon was its innovative, technical fabrics Wilson and his team developed.
Alo was also founded out of a love of yoga, years later in 2007. Two best friends from Northern California who wanted to share the transformative, healing power of the practice, Danny Harri and Marco DeGeorge, put together a team of like-minded people and created the lifestyle athleisure brand with a focus on "mindful movement."
Both brands were born out of the yoga movement, but with very different approaches: Lululemon was focused on textile innovation and improving performance, while Alo was focused on spreading and cultivating a lifestyle.
In the early- to mid-2010s, Lululemon really started to gain traction in the U.S. and essentially launched the athleisure movement -- comfortable clothes designed to fit for both exercise and everyday wear. They made it socially acceptable -- desirable, even -- to wear yoga pants out in the world. A few years later, Alo began to gain notoriety at the perfect time to help usher in the next phase of athleisure that further blended the line between workout clothes and everyday wear. Alo offered a more polished approach to the category that was more elevated and chic compared to Lululemon's examples of elevated workout wear.
Both brands have now expanded to offer more than just their flagship apparel. Lululemon has a highly popular men's line, looser loungewear and a women's footwear line. Alo has expanded behind its men's and women's yoga apparel line to launch a skincare brand, Alo Wellness, and an at-home fitness app, Alo Moves.
Both brands are aimed at a similar socioeconomic and cultural demographic: affluent, mostly thin and appearance-conscious men and women.
But within that group, there are some strong differences in each brand's clientele. Lululemon attracts high-paced workout girlies -- namely those who run, play tennis, do high-intensity interval training and then do yoga to recover and unwind. Alo is more common among the pilates and barre group and those whose want to simply look good running errands around town.
Alo also seems to value celebrity and esteem in much higher regard as a part of their brand. Their About page features celebrity sightings in their clothes and touts that "many of the most influential yogis in the world teach yoga at Alo headquarters." Their ambassador/influencer program is filled with big names, such as model Kendall Jenner, Love Island darling Maura Higgins and Blackpink's Jisoo. While Lululemon certainly has celebrity endorsers, their branding and partnerships are more heavily focused on portraying everyday athletes with an ambassador program filled largely with trainers, coaches and studio owners.
Lululemon's proprietary and meticulously developed performance fabrics are the backbone of the brand. They pour a lot of time and money into innovating in this category. Lululemon's leggings are some of the best leggings for women, in my opinion. I've run half-marathons and completed CrossFit Opens in many of the brand's leggings, shorts and tops, and can attest to their performance quality.
Lululemon's Nulu fabric is iconic for how buttery soft it feels, how much it hugs the body and how comfortable it is to wear all day, while its Everlux is quick to dry and stays cool against your skin. Overall, what I find impressive about Lululemon's fabrics is that they not only feel great during high-intensity activities, but they also look and feel very expensive.
Alo also has its own signature fabrics, foremost the high-compression Airlift, the soft and smoothing Airbrush and the soft and cozy Alosoft. I've worked out and run errands in some of Alo's bestsellers and objectively found the quality of their material to be far below Lululemon's, which aligns with what people I know have experienced, too. The Airlift leggings feel uncomfortably synthetic and didn't breathe well, even just on walks. The Airbrush line is nicely soft but, again, I found it doesn't breath very well. Alo's lounge fabrics are decently soft and comfortable.
Moreover, Alo's fabrics don't seem to have the longevity that the majority of Lululemon's do. Granted, Lululemon's Align leggings are notorious for pilling after a few wears and washes, but the rest of the brand's fabrics and construction hold up quite well over use and cleaning cycles. I have multiple Lululemon tops and leggings that are five to eight years old and are still going strong. Meanwhile, many people complain about Alo's fabrics across the board looking worn after just a handful of washes.
While Lululemon may excel in fabric technology, Alo pulls ahead for strong aesthetics.
Both brands certainly have a strong mix of athletic apparel and athleisure. But Alo is definitely more into street style and ultra chic athleisure. They make many styles of clothing that aren't the best for a fast-paced workout, but look great and stay comfortable if you start lightly perspiring during a Pilates class or while grabbing coffee with a friend (like the Airbrush Streamlined Bra Tank, for example).
Meanwhile, Lululemon stays largely in the performance space, but has also ventured into the smart travel and comfortable-at-work territory with their Fall 2024 launch including pleated trousers and a blazer. To be clear, Lululemon's apparel is universally considered cute and flattering, but they favor more simple, tame and practical styles compared with Alo.
It's also worth noting that Alo tends to stay within a very specific and simple color palette of black, creams and beiges which helps them achieve that polished and elevated look. Lululemon's colors run the gamut of brights to neutrals to patterns to naturals for a wider range of expression. They lean more on their fabric quality, seam construction and silhouette choice to elevate the look.
Lululemon has always been famous for their leggings -- and this is definitely where the strength of the brand lies. They've done an amazing job at engineering a highly flattering fit to complement their luxurious-feeling, moisture-minimizing performance fabrics. More of the best things to buy from Lululemon include the second-skin, buttery soft Align High-Rise Pant, and the breezy Hotty Hot High-Rise Lined Short.
Alo's leggings don't hold up to Lululemon's quality or performance. However, Alo does a good job with sports bras and tops. Items like the Airlift Intrigue Bra and the Seamless Delight High Neck Bra are comfortable, well-fitting and highly flattering. People also really like Alo's good-looking, often-oversized outerwear, like the Hazy Mock Neck Pullover or the Foxy Sherpa Jacket, for a comfy chic look for cold weather.
There's no doubt both of these brands are in the "expensive" category of athleisure and athleticwear compared to competitors. In a head-to-head comparison of price for Alo vs. Lululemon apparel, the two brands are pretty comparable -- but Lululemon takes a slight lead in affordability.
For example, Lululemon's compressive performance tights, Wunder Trains, run $98 to $118, while Alo's, the Airlift Leggings, land at $128. Lululemon's strappy, lightly supportive, bestselling Flow Y sports bra costs $48 compared to Alo's Airlift Intrigue at $68. That said, Alo's Match Point Tennis Skirt costs $10 less at $68 compared to Lululemon's Lightweight Tennis Skirt at $78. The trousers offered by both Lululemon and Alo run the same ($148).
Both Lululemon and Alo cite a commitment to and investment in their communities as backbones of their respective brands.
Alo has a program called Alo Gives that provides free video-based yoga and meditation activities to help children develop better skills for social and emotional learning. Many Alo stores also have ongoing partnerships and initiatives with their local communities.
Lululemon has a grant program called Here to Be that offers money to grassroots organizations aimed at increasing access to well-being practices locally. They launched their Centre for Social Impact in 2021, which now encompasses Here to Be as well as other philanthropic, research and advocacy initiatives to the same end. Lululemon also offers community events across their local storefronts, like yoga classes, wellness workshops and run clubs.
Lululemon's apparel is more about performance and aesthetics, while Alo's are more about achieving a polished, status-symbol look in clothing that moves and doesn't restrict.
For cool-looking, super polished, athletic-adjacent clothing that truly fit in out in the world while keeping you pretty comfortable, Alo takes the lead. But comparing the two in their self-proclaimed category as a workout apparel brand, Lululemon far outweighs Alo with better performance fabrics and a superior fit for both fast- and slow-paced workouts. Alo's fabrics don't feel as high-quality, don't feel as luxurious and don't breathe or move as well as Lululemon.
Considering both brands are at a similar price point, Lululemon offers a lot more performance and quality for your money.
The Forbes Vetted gear team has extensively tested and reviewed tons of fitness gear. These include dozens of clothing roundups for both men and women that focus on transitional activewear from many brands including Lululemon and Alo.