LuLaRich exposes the pyramid scheme of LuLaRoe, focusing on the exponential expansion of a clothing company that continues to face criticisms from the public, including a mystery stench linked to the clothing. This growth eventually leads to the neglect of the product, resulting in the infamous stinky leggings. The documentary highlights this gruesome fact, interviewing several women who experience many issues with their inventory and with LuLaRoe’s response to their growing concerns.
In LuLaRich, several women are interviewed who are current retailers or salespeople who have left the company altogether. One of the biggest problems that these women spoke about was the diminishing quality of the product, specifically, the leggings. Leggings are a staple in the clothing industry. Even in animated movies such as Ralph Breaks the Internet, casual clothes are exhibited. This type of clothing promotes comfortability which results in high demand for the product. However, LuLaRoe created several complications for its retailers in the few months it struggled to expand. A former retailer described receiving a box of inventory and finding only one bag of leggings soaking wet in the entire order. Another retailer mentioned an unbearable scent from one of the packages, like rot or decay. When reporting the issues to the company, the retailers discovered that “stinky leggings” were an option in the dropdown menu for common issues. Additionally, LuLaRoe simply suggested freezing the leggings to rid them of the stench, offering no further resolution.
Several women became involved with the controversial LuLaRoe, including Meri Brown from Sister Wives, simply because they love the product. Despite the popularity, the foul-smelling product remained an issue, with LuLaRich suggesting the inventory was stored outdoors, being exposed to the elements like rain, which resulted in mold. While the smelly leggings are linked to horror stories, the situation also represents the issues that came about from a rapidly growing start-up. LuLaRoe could not sustain itself during their augmentation and felt the growing pains immensely, particularly on the production side.
It’s apparent in this documentary that LuLaRoe is a pyramid scheme, and the stinky leggings are only furthering that point. The director (Julia Willoughby Nason) did not shy away from exposing the facts in her work, similar to her reveal on the Fyre Festival documentary. When growth occurred, and production was extended at LuLaRoe, the new facility still could not handle inventory capacity. The resolution for this complication was to utilize the parking lots of the production facility, with leggings, shirts, and clothing piled in carts under the blazing California sun. The company sacrificed the very thing it was selling. If the product was damaged, chances of it selling were wildly slim. However, as LuLaRich reinforced, this company was not necessarily selling clothing but selling memberships. The business model of LuLaRoe focused on recruitment, not necessarily sales. LuLaRoe’s priorities started to decline right alongside the quality of the product.
A lot of documentaries mention the idea of something being too good to be true. Similar to the example of manipulation and abuse revealed in Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, LuLaRoe saw the trust and loyalty being built by the retailers and ran with it. In the early stages of this company, members would invite friends to a clothing pop-up where they could buy this product at a wholesale price. A lot of women were sold on the idea because of the quality of the leggings. They described the leggings as buttery soft, durable fabric and the best leggings they ever had. However, when LuLaRoe began stretching production to meet unsustainable demands, the quality suffered. Now, retailers are finding mismatched seams, unflattering pattern placements, broken zippers, and other severe complications.
Documentaries like LuLaRich strive to expose the secrets of companies and individuals who have wronged thousands of vulnerable people, oftentimes females, by their own greed. Bringing these issues to light encourages others who have been affected to speak up about injustice and ultimately chastise those taking advantage of others.