If you’re at the mall, you’ve likely seen middle schoolers walking around in packs with matching belt bags slung across their chests, stuffed with lip gloss and pocket money. If you look closely, you might catch the Lululemon logo glistening on the bottom right hand corner.

Lululemon’s Everywhere Belt Bag has become a uniform for a generation of teens and tweens. But even though the bag has become iconic, Lululemon has decided to redesign it, adding a range of features that will make it more functional and harder for competitors to copy. Through this update, Lululemon wants to show off its obsessive attention to detail and keep its youngest consumers engaged.

An Accidental Hit

The wild success of the belt bag came as a surprise to Lululemon, because it had never even planned to sell this product. The company originally designed the bag for store employees who needed to be hands-free as they engaged with customers on the floor. “They needed to have something to help carry their mobile ordering device, gift cards, and other items they needed on the floor,” says Philip Hamilton, VP of global merchandising at Lululemon.

The company got constant requests from customers asking where they could get one. So in 2018, Lululemon released a retail version for $38. Interest around the bag built as people talked on Reddit and Instagram about how handy it was. During the pandemic, when people stopped going to the office but frequently went out for walks, a hands-free belt bag was particularly useful. “It suits any demographic and psychographic,” says Hamilton. “It’s very democratic.”

Demand peaked in 2023. While Lululemon won’t release sales figures for the bag, Hamilton says that the company sold hundreds of thousands of bags just over Christmas and Boxing Day that year. Its low price, by Lululemon standards, made it a gateway for young shoppers. By fall 2024, Lululemon had become the third most popular bag brand among teen girls, according to a survey by Piper Sandler. “The bag brought a lot of guest acquisition for the brand,” Hamilton says.

Redesigning a Classic

Now, Lululemon is doing something a little risky. It’s trying to improve on a product that already has millions of devoted fans. Most of the changes are small enough that casual observers may not even notice, but Lululemon is hoping that belt bag devotees will appreciate the tweaks.

The new bag is about 30% larger, in response to feedback from customers who need more space. Phones, for instance, are now bigger than they used to be. The shape has also been redesigned so the bag opening doesn’t gape when it’s full. The strap now sits flush against the bag, making it easier to adjust, but it is also fully removable. There are many more pockets inside. And in a particularly clever move, Lululemon’s designers have created a simple safety system by allowing you to put the zipper through a carabiner, making it virtually impossible to open.