The world’s most popular leggings have just had an upgrade

Tried, tested, and approved

After taking the time to perfect the fabric, fit and flow of this game-changing product, Lululemon has finally launched the pair of leggings we've all been begging for.

With the activewear market having grown exponentially over the past decade, it’s likely that most people have sampled more than a few brands of tights. But if there’s one pair of leggings that most of us have worn, loved and purchased time and time again, it’s Lululemon’s signature Align pants.

Now, 10 years on from the tights’ debut, Lululemon have released a new iteration of their most beloved range: the Align No line pant.

As the name suggests, this newly launched product represents everything we know and love about the Align fabric, minus the front seam – AKA the seam that many know as the camel toe enabler.

While fans of the renowned leggings have been asking for the activewear pioneers to drop a seamless version since the tights first leapt onto the scene, Antonia Iamartino, Global Senior Director and Designer of Align™ Franchise, says maintaining the function and quality of the leggings with a modification as major as this has taken years to perfect. 

“It's hard when you have something super great, and then it's kind of like, ‘Okay, let's change something super fundamental to not only just general pants, but also this iconic style,” says Iamartino.

But with minimal seams to start with (a technical feat already difficult to achieve), Iamartino and her team were tasked with a unique challenge: removing one of the most integral seams from the tight’s design, without impacting the four-way stretch and beloved buttery feel of Lululemon’s signature Nulu fabric.

lululemon Align No Line™ High-Rise Pant 25", $139 from Lululemon

lululemon Align No Line™ High-Rise Pant

Because, as annoying as the front seam can be sometimes (let’s just be honest, no one loves a surprise camel toe cameo during a workout), most people would sooner put up with it than sacrifice the perfect fit and function of their beloved Align pants.

“You are essentially removing a part of a garment that if you were to just make a garment from the beginning of time, it's really something that would be there,” she explains. “It's a functional part of the garment.”

“A lot of the finesse of the fit really comes from that, so to remove one of those, you then are relying a lot on how the material fits, the sort of engineering of the pattern, and the way that you're cutting it.”

“Each element is constantly being tested, and that is what really like sets it apart. We have a really high standard,” she adds.

Antonia Iamartino, Global Senior Director and Designer of Align™ Franchise. Image: Supplied

Wearing any Align garment is described by most as feeling like wearing nothing. Over more than a decade, the weightless, buttery soft material has been engineered to provide four-way stretch flexibility, making the range an instant hit amongst Yoga nuts and Pilates princesses alike. 

Now, by removing the front seam, Lululemon has successfully expanded their offering even more – and if this drop is anything like every Lululemon drop before it, we shouldn’t have to wait to long for the brand to expand their seamless offering beyond the classic Align 25 inch tight (perhaps some shorts in time for summer?). 

“It really does expand the optionality that guests have for it,” says Iamartino. “There'll be guests who will still pick the original front-rise option and then guests who'll choose this one. So again, it just allows more women to feel empowered to pick the best thing for them.”

A closer look at the newest member of the Align family.

As they say, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and when it comes to the Align pant, there is no shortage of attempted replications on the market. It's the unfortunate reality of producing a revolutionary product, says Iamartino, but also one that doesn’t worry her. 

“We're super confident in all of the ingredients that we put into both the fabric, the way it's been sewn, and all the specifications that we've put into it, so we know that we created this rock-solid product that really can't be duplicated per se,” she says. 

“There are absolutely a lot of iterative versions that you see out there, and I think one thing that's a nice side to that is that clearly, we have revolutionised the industry in that way.”

Originally published as The world’s most popular leggings have just had an upgrade