$68 for mittens? Team Canada fans cry foul over Lululemon prices for official Olympic gear

Lululemon may be famous for selling pricy, form-fitting yoga pants, but the price point of the Vancouver company's official Olympic gear isn't sitting right with many customers.

The athleisure brand made a splash when it signed an exclusive deal to outfit Canada's Olympic team at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. For decades, Team Canada was outfitted by iconic Canadian brands Roots, then HBC at various Games, before the yoga chain stepped up to buy the rights to make and sell the official swag last fall.

While reviews of the look and feel of the clothes themselves have earned glowing reviews, some consumers are having a hard time getting past their pricing.

A pair of red mittens emblazoned with the letters CAN over the fingers sell for $68. That's drawing unfavourable comparisons with the iconic red and white maple leaf mittens that were a runaway hit for previous sponsor HBC, which sold for $10 a pair during the 2010 Games in Vancouver. 

This year, for $8, you can buy a Team Canada hair scrunchies. For $14, you can get some branded hair ties. The price point for larger garments goes up quickly from there, topping out at almost $500 for a parka.

My God. You’ve basically taken away the ability for any middle class family to participate in the olympics via clothing. 68 bucks for gloves? I used to buy these from the Bay for 15-20. Ridiculous. This is not what celebrating is about.

Many Canadians have taken their griping online this week, with complaints that the price point for the Olympic collection is well above what average Canadians can afford. 

But Cheri Bradish, who teaches sports marketing at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto, says the strategy makes perfect sense for an aspirational