Dive Brief:

• Lululemon Athletica Inc. said Wednesday it has tapped Lee Holman, former Nike VP of global apparel, innovation and equipment design, to be EVP, creative director, a new position reporting to CEO Laurent Potdevin. Holman has also worked in design positions at Burberry and Abercrombie & Fitch.

• The company also said that chief product officer Tara Poseley is leaving and her position will be eliminated. CFO Stuart Haselden will have broader responsibilities, including leading operations, and there is now a new, though unfilled, chief supply chain officer position there.

• Poseley arrived at Lululemon from Kmart, replacing Sheree Waterson who left after the retailer found itself combating major manufacturing quality snafus in its signature yoga pant.

Dive Insight:

Vancouver-based Lululemon has had a hard time rising above its major 2013 quality breach, when founder Chip Wilson blamed larger women for the pilling and sheerness in its high-priced signature yoga pant, made out of a proprietary material.

The retailer has been struggling ever since, dealing with increased competition, falling margins, ongoing supply chain, and quality issues, and tussles with even its biggest fans over its reselling and return policies. While Lululemon was distracted by its quality issues and the indiscreet remarks by its founder, retailers from small yoga purveyors to large companies like Target and Dick’s Sporting Goods have entered the athleisure space it created to offer a wide range of sports-leisure apparel at sometimes significantly more attractive price points.

The appointment of a first-ever creative director may help the retailer recapture some of the vision once offered by Wilson, who battled with the board in the months before his complete departure from the company he founded.

“Standing out requires a fierce commitment to constant innovation in functional performance. Our unwavering dedication to a singular design vision and craftsmanship has made us the global market leader in the category we’ve created and continue to define,” Potdevin said in a statement. “Changes to the organizational structure, including the new role of Creative Director, are critical to executing upon our 10-year vision.”