If you’re looking for Lululemon men’s pants, you don’t have to look very far. When the Vancouver-based brand opened the doors to its first physical space way back in ’98, it was a modest design studio that happened to host yoga classes at night. Twenty-five years later, Lululemon isn’t just an athleisure brand—it’s the athleisure brand, a multi-billion dollar global juggernaut that made a mint hawking Lycra everything to a professional class perpetually en route to the gym.
Lululemon’s leggings remain a perennial best-seller, but over the years, its swishy, stretchy, sweat-wicking pants also caught on with a different demographic entirely: style-agnostic fellas just looking for comfortable trousers to wear to the office instead of jeans. You likely know the type of guy we’re talking about here—you probably work with (or work out with) at least one person who insists, with a peculiar degree of fervor, that Lululemon’s pants are so swishy, so stretchy, and so sweat-wicking no others can ever hope to compete. Which sort of begs the question: Are any of those pants actually, y’know, decent-looking?
The Best Lululemon Men’s Pants, According to GQ
So, in the name of journalistic service, your pals at GQ Recommends set out to find some answers in the only way we know how: by testing them ourselves. Over the course of a few weeks, our intrepid wear-tester cycled through a few sleeper-hit silhouettes, each slightly different in fit, fabric, and design. And, honestly…they’re not bad! (No, really.) We probably wouldn’t suggest any of them in lieu of dress pants, but if you’re just looking for an easy-going chino alternative you can turn to when sweats won’t cut it, the Lululemon men’s pants below are far from the worst place to start.
The House Specials: Lululemon ABC Classic-Fit Pants
Lululemon’s ABC line is responsible for the most popular pants in the brand’s repertoire (and, frankly, that’s saying a lot). The brand bills them as a, uh, “dynamic improvement on denim,” which, sure, sounds pretty neat! What that translates to in layman’s terms, though, is a classic pair of 5-pocket pants rendered in the company’s trademark Warpstream fabric. They’re never going to yield the type of sweet fades prized on r/rawdenim, but our in-house tester was loathe to deny how comfortable they are straight off the rack. When Lululemon showcases a model high-kicking in them, it’s no feat of Photoshop wizardry—you could probably run a 10K in these bad boys just fine. We’d strongly recommend sticking with the straight fit (the slim version can skew a little too close to jeggings for our tastes, especially for dudes with prodigiously sized thighs) in colors that don’t look like they’re trying too hard to replace your jeans. Olive and gray are just as versatile as blue, and will help differentiate them from the capital-D Denim already in your closet.
For the Dress Pants Deniers: Lululemon Commission Pants
Do men wear dress pants anymore? If we had a say, then the answer would be a resounding “Yes!” Alas, men prefer stretchy bottoms over sexy bottoms these days, and Lululemon has the stereotypical man wrapped around its Canadian finger. The Commission pants are not dress pants, but from afar, they’ll have you believe that Larry finally got his BS together and decided to swap the sweats for slacks. If the ABC pants are the brand’s take on the classic five-pocket, then the Commission is the brand’s version of chinos or khakis. They’re made of stretchy, somewhat shiny Warpstream, stretchable to the nth degree. Techy additions—like zippered pockets and reflective details at the cuff—make this less apt for being worn at your best bud’s wedding, but that just means you could wear these if you ride your bike to work and still show up to your 10 a.m. meeting looking like you actually care about how you look.
The Elevated Sweatpants: Lululemon Pace Breaker Jogger
We know there are guys out there who haven’t given up on joggers. Are they sweatpants? No, but they sort of feel like they could be, given their huge comfort factor and that neat tapered action you get thanks to the elasticated cuff at the ankle. These have a nice classic fit, which means they won’t be skin-tight against your chunky thighs and bulging calves, before narrowing down ever so slightly to give a clean break at the shoe. Mesh paneling offers sneaky airflow where you need it most (i.e. where you’re most likely to break a little sweat), and zippered pockets mean your phone won’t fly out of your pants when you’re running down the block to catch the bus.
The “Hang On, They Might Be Onto Something Here”: Lululemon New Venture Pants
If, in a fit of monk-like asceticism, you resolved to rid your closet of all your pants but one, you might wind up with a pair that looks a lot like these. Lululemon’s New Venture pants get full marks in every category our wear-tester judged them by—fit, fabric, the ability to withstand an impromptu jog to the train. Their easy-wearing, slightly tapered fit is neither slim nor baggy, an earnest rejection of whatever trends are currently dominating your timeline. At first glance, they look like business-as-usual chinos, but their internal drawcord (don’t worry, you can stash it behind the waistband) and the water-repellent twill they’re made from will keep you fly and dry long after you’ve signed off for the day. If there’s a pair of pants that’ll make you believe in the Lululemon way of life, these are probably them.
The AI-Era Work Pants: Lululemon Utilitech Carpenter Pants
We might be living in the era of the double-knee warrior, but the uncomfortable truth about those rough-and-tumble carpenter pants is exactly that: they’re not all that comfortable. Enter Lululemon’s riff on the style, cut from a lightweight, four-way stretch fabric designed for maximum mobility. They fit relaxed in the seat and thigh, then taper gently towards the ankle for a clean finish, all the better to spotlight the sneakers you’ll wear ‘em with. Naturally, they come equipped with the requisite reinforced knees and even the signature side pocket, but in this case, the pocket in question is lined with a springy recycled polyester, transforming it into a nifty secret compartment for the only tool you really use—your phone.
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