It turns out it's a brand of athletic clothing called Tuff Athletics. Although the tag says it's a USA company, when I googled it, the trademark was registered to Cascadia Fashion Resources out of Burnaby, British Columbia. Hmmmm. Very coincidental location.
The construction details are nearly identical to Lululemon. Here are some photos of the jacket:
Hair Tie On the Zipper - A Signature (I thouht) Lululemon Design Feature
Cuffins and Thumbholes - Two of my favorite features on my Define Jackets
Ipod Cord Tunnel - pretty nice feature on a $23 jacket. There was also a loop to thread the headphone wire through.
Here is a comparison of the stitching - both are flat seamed. The bottom is the Tuff brand, the top is a pair of my Groovin Crop Tie crops. The Tuff looks fairly well constructed.
The color choices of Tuff crops available at my Costco today - looks like recent Lulu to me.
Here is a comparison of a pair of Tuff crops with purple waistband and my Power Purple/Lolo Purple Groove shorts.
I can't tell you how peeved I was to see this today. I bought a pair of crops to take home and try out. The design details, construction, colors, and fabric content are total clones of Lululemon. The Tuff crops are identical to Lululemon Reverse Groove crops. The seams are in the same place and there is an inner pocket in the waistband in the same place. Both are flat seamed and the stitching is identical. The only difference is that there is no gusset in the Tuff version. They are also not reversible. When you feel the fabric, it feels a lot like luon. However, when you put them on there are obvious differences. The material is much stiffer and much less stretchy. These crops did not fit me nearly as well as my own Groove crops (nor even the newer Lululemon ones with the new luon). That's a very good thing because I'd be peeved if Costco is selling crops nearly as nice as Lululemon's for $17. I also read on line that the Tuff fabric tends to hold odor. I also read a blurb on a discussion board from a woman who lived in Vancouver who said the rumor around town was that Tuff and Lulu were made in the same factory. (Any Vancouver readers want to confirm or deny?) Her comment was from 2008 so things might have changed now but I am curious as to why Lululemon isn't protecting their distinctive look and design features more unless they are silent partners with Tuff. Tuff has a Facebook site, too. Check out these photos of Tuff designs, all eerily reminiscent of Lululemon:
That fabric looks suspiciously Space Dye-ish or Static-ish.
This tank looks very similar to Lululemon's Movement Tank:
They even offer hoodies.
Here is a link to the Canadian Costco magazine article about Tuff Athletics.
