The popular yoga clothing maker has pulled pants deemed too revealing for your down dog.

Lululemon, known for selling ultra-thin yoga pants to wealthy exercise enthusiasts, has recalled a large batch of its merchandise over a "coverage problem."

Lululemon said in a blog post that some shipments of black women's bottoms -- made with its signature black Luon fabric -- failed to meet the Canadian company's "high standards."

The materials used in construction were the same but the coverage was not, resulting in increased sheerness. We want you to Down Dog and Crow with confidence and we felt these pants didn't measure up."

Lululemon added in a statement that the recall would affect 17 percent of the women's pants it sells.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the recall would have a serious impact on the company's bottom line. Shares fell 4.8 percent after Lululemon announced that the yoga pants recall would bring its first-quarter sales down from an expected $350-355 million to $333-343 million.

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Lululemon recalls see-through yoga pants

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lululemon has yanked its popular black yoga pants from store shelves after it found that the sheer material used was revealing too much of its loyal customers.

The company insisted it had not changed the specifications for the clothing, but is warning of a shortage of the extraordinarily popular clothing items, which make up make up about 17 percent of all women's pants and crop pants in its stores.

Shares plunged nearly 8 percent before the opening bell Tuesday and at least one analyst that follows the company stripped it of its "buy" rating.

Sam Poser of Sterne, Agee & Leach advised clients to take a wait-and-see approach until the problem is resolved, downgraded the company's shares to "neutral."

There appears to be a "major quality control problem" in Asia where the "Luon" pants are made, Poser said. While Lululemon has used the same factories to make its fabrics since 2004, he said it doesn't seem as though the company has the proper oversight in place.Faye Landes

The Luon pants are one of the retailer's product staples and Cowen analyst Faye Landes said that if there is any comfort could to found, it is that Lululemon is not facing a demand problem. Lululemon has been a star for investors, as well as yoga devotees, with shares rocketing from less than $3 in 2009, to around $65 this year.

But the announcement comes just before the company posts earnings for the final quarter and full year on Thursday.

Lululemon Athletica Inc., based in Vancouver, British Columbia, cut its first-quarter revenue forecast as a result of the recall. The company now anticipates first-quarter revenue between $333 million and $343 million. Its prior guidance was for $350 million to $355 million. Analysts polled by FactSet expect revenue of $352.1 million.

It also lowered its first-quarter outlook for comparable store revenues, from 11 percent, to 5 percent and 8 percent.

Lululemon is offering full refunds or exchanges to customers.

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Lululemon recalls yoga pants _ too revealing

* About 17 percent of women's yoga pants affected

* Says pants have an unacceptable "level of sheerness"

* Move to hurt revenue, earnings and same-store sales

* Lululemon shares slide after-hours (Adds details of withdrawal, background, byline)

By Euan Rocha

TORONTO, March 18 (Reuters) - Lululemon Athletica Inc is pulling shipments of unexpectedly sheer women's yoga pants from its stores, in a move the athletic clothing maker said would hurt its bottom line.

Shares of the Canadian company, known for its pricey women's workout gear, fell more than 6 percent after it said the move will "have a significant impact" on financial results and lead to a shortage of its signature black luon fabric yoga pants in its stores.

Certain shipments of yoga pants that went on sale this month had an unacceptable "level of sheerness," and affected about 17 percent of all women's bottoms in its stores, Lululemon said.

"The ingredients, weight and longevity qualities of the pants remain the same but the coverage does not," the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said in a statement issued late on Monday.

The company, which is looking to expand beyond North America and Australia, said this weekend it withdrew all of the affected black yoga pants from its stores, showrooms and e-commerce site. Customers who bought the affected pants can return them for a full refund or exchange, it added.

Excerpt from:
UPDATE 1-Lululemon withdraws sheer yoga pants, stock drops

NEW YORK (AP) -- Lululemon has yanked its popular black yoga pants from store shelves after it found that the sheer material used was revealing too much of its loyal customers.

The company insisted it had not changed the specifications for the clothing, but is warning of a shortage of the extraordinarily popular clothing items, which make up make up about 17 percent of all women's pants and crop pants in its stores.

Shares dropped more than 5 percent in morning trading Tuesday and one analyst that follows the company stripped it of its "Buy" rating.

Sam Poser of Sterne, Agee & Leach advised clients to take a wait-and-see approach until the problem is resolved. He downgraded the company's shares to "Neutral."

There appears to be a "major quality control problem" in Asia where the "Luon" pants are made, Poser said. While Lululemon has used the same factories to make its fabrics since 2004, he said it doesn't seem as though the company has the proper oversight in place.

The Luon pants are one of the retailer's product staples and Cowen analyst Faye Landes said that if there is any comfort to be found, it is that Lululemon is not facing a demand problem. Lululemon has been a star for investors, as well as yoga devotees, with shares rocketing from less than $3 in 2009, to around $65 this year.

But the announcement comes just before the company posts earnings for the final quarter and full year on Thursday.

Lululemon Athletica Inc., based in Vancouver, British Columbia, cut its first-quarter revenue forecast as a result of its decision to withdraw the pants. The company now anticipates first-quarter revenue between $333 million and $343 million. Its prior guidance was for $350 million to $355 million. Analysts polled by FactSet expect revenue of $352.1 million.

It also lowered its first-quarter outlook for comparable store revenues, from 11 percent, to between 5 percent and 8 percent.

Lululemon is offering full refunds or exchanges to customers.

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Lululemon pulls yoga pants _ too revealing

Over the weekend overpriced yoga pants peddler Lululemon announced that it wouldn't be able to sell an entire batch of bottoms, after some manufacturing glitch made them too thin (read: see-through). It's easy to make light of the situation, especially if you've ever seen anyone wearing too-thin yoga pants also known as too-much-information yoga pants. But the Canadian athletic apparel company's executives aren't laughing about this one. They stand to lose alot of money over this little incident. And the resulting yoga pants shortage? It's going to be awful, people.

RELATED: The Very Not Zen Battle of the Yoga Pants

It's actually already happening. Lululemon pulled the suspect batch of yoga pants over the weekend, issuing a basically hilarious press release explaining the trouble in far too technical terms. "The ingredients, weight and longevity qualities ofthe pants remain the same but the coverage does not, resulting in a level ofsheerness in some of our women's black Luon bottoms that falls short of our veryhigh standards," the company said, adding that "the affected items represented approximately 17%of all women's bottoms in our stores and for the near term there will be ashortage." Lululemon also said that it will offer refunds for anyone who bought too-thin yoga pants after March 1. Bear in mind, this is one of the largest yoga apparel makers out there, so nearly a fifth of their inventory is a lot of yoga pants.

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From a business point of view, this is obviously bad news. Lululemon's stock plummeted in response to the news early Monday evening and continued to fall in after hours trading. Shares were down about 6 percent at the time of this writing, and while the stock could easily recover, the damage to Lululemon's revenue is likely already done. The company says that the "sheerness" incident will bring its first quarter sales down from an expected$350 million to $355 million to a more humble$333 million to $343 million. In other words, the company stands to lose over $20 million in sales, all because a bunch of see-through yoga pants.

RELATED: The $1 Million Battle Over Bikram Yoga

There is still hope and we're winging it with this idea. It doesn't take too much Internet searching to realize that too-thin yoga pants are kind of a thing. Maybe Lululemon could just sell the whole batch to the "Girls in Yoga Pants" subreddit (slightly NSFW) and call it a draw.

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Lululemon's Too-Thin Yoga Pants Fiasco Could Cost the Company Over $20 Million