Team Canada wears these lululemon mittens. Canadians are angry – By Mariana Best (MySA) / February 10, 2022
The internet is having a fit over a pair of mitts.
At the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, the globe fell in love with an ineffably Canadian item of clothing: mittens. Team Canada’s simplistic red knitted wool mittens struck a sentimental chord with fans, becoming a viral sensation that generated over 3.5 million sales in the initial 12-month run alone.
The trend stuck for the next decade – but the price tag did not. After a 15-year merchandising partnership with Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) which originally sold the iconic crimson mitts for $10 a pop, Team Canada announced a new deal last fall with Vancouver-based athleisure giant, lululemon, who is peddling their version of the mittens for a stiff $68.
The sticker shock has prompted swarms of angry Canadians to take to Twitter with their frustrations. For years, Canadian fans could shell out a few fivers to directly support their home team – net proceeds of HBC’s sales went directly to the Canadian Olympic Committee to fund athletes’ programs, raising over $34 million since 2010 – all while showing their spirit and keeping their hands warm during winter games. Now, lululemon’s mitten sales don’t promise to generate funds for Team Canada at all, making it even more difficult for merch aficionados to justify the heftier price.
