What’s the Difference Between an Aritzia and a Lululemon Puffer?
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Welcome to Coat Week on the Strategist, where we’re asking everyone — from New Yorkers to people living in the coldest parts of the U.S. — about their favorite coats and trying out every puffer we can. For more, head over to ourCoat Week hub.
My parents are Canadian, so I can still remember being gifted a pair of OG Lululemon leggings in the 2000s and hearing about Aritzia as “the only place we shop” in Canada from my cousins (it still holds true). These two brands are very different, of course — Lululemon sits at the mountain’s peak of athleisure, and Aritzia is the place to get everything from wardrobe basics and buttery leggings to going-out tops and officewear. But in recent years, their inventory has grown more similar, and that’s really evidenced by the puffer coats being sold by both brands and the fact that many people own one or the other. To better understand the difference between an Aritzia puffer and a Lululemon puffer, I set up a head-to-head face-off comparing three similar styles from each brand.
Aritzia’s original Super Puff is the classic winter coat
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Aritzia The Super Puff™ cliMATTE™
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I tried Aritzia’s original Super Puff coat, which, in my eyes, is the platonic ideal of a silhouette for a down winter coat. It’s long through the body, enough to cover your hips and bum — essential for walking through snowbanks or sitting on a freezing metal bench in subzero weather — with a straight fit that isn’t too snug or too loose. The original Super Puff uses premium down with a high 800-plus fill-power rating. According to the brand, it’s made for temperatures up to -22 degrees Fahrenheit (-30 degrees Celsius).
Over at Lululemon, I decided to test the Wunder Puff 600-Down-Fill Jacket, which is similar in shape to the original Super Puff but definitely leans more boxy, though it does have a cinchable drawcord at the hem like the Super Puff. An inner drawcord at the Wunder Puff’s waist also lets you adjust the back for a closer fit. I’m usually a size 6 in women’s tops at Lululemon, but with the Wunder Puff, I had to size down to a 4 because my normal size looked too sloppy. Both the Super Puff and the Wunder Puff have a detachable hood (the Super Puff’s is also cinchable) and an interior chest pocket.
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For a mid-length puffer, you could really go either way depending on how you want your coat to feel on your body. Lululemon’s cinch-waist-style puffer has a really nice silhouette in theory, but the bottom can look a little bulbous. The classic horizontal baffles — or the sewn sections that separate the insulation (picture a sleeping bag) — are wider, while Aritzia’s Supersnug Puff features more baffles that are tightly spaced. The Supersnug Puff collection is also the brand’s line that’s designed to hug the body, and I felt this coat followed my natural curves very nicely. Zero Michelin Man effect here.
The fill power is where they differ
The original Super Puff boasts up to 800-plus fill-power rating, while the Wunder Puff sits at 600 fill power. The Super Puff’s fill is 90 percent down and 10 percent waterfowl feathers, which is a broad way to describe the keratin-based feathers covering aquatic birds like ducks and geese. The Wunder Puff contains 80 percent gray-goose down and 20 percent gray-goose feathers, so Lululemon gets a little more specific with what bird (gray goose) its down and features are coming from.
With 800 fill power, the Aritzia is more efficient in terms of insulation, since the down has greater loft. But it’s also important to note that a high fill power combined with a high fill weight means that you’re getting maximum warmth. While we don’t know for sure how much down fill is in each coat, by trying them on, I can usually tell which coat has the bundled-up heft you’ll need for freezing weather. And in this mini-face-off, Aritzia was my favorite.
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The most pillowy down can be found in the Featherweight 900-Down-Fill Long Puffer from Lululemon, which has the highest fill-power rating of any of the coats I tried. It essentially feels like I’m wearing a weightless sleeping bag because it has 900-fill-power down, which means the insulation is super-high-quality. It didn’t weigh me down at all, but my biggest concern was with the sizing. I opted for a size small and felt it looked very oversize on my frame. While it allowed me to fit extra layers underneath, including a heavy hoodie and wide-leg sweatpants, I would consider sizing down if you prefer a regular fit.
Super Puffs have sturdier outer shells and some rare coldproof accents
“CliMATTE” is the staple Super Puff outer-shell fabric. It’s a water-repellent and wind-resistant ripstop fabric that’s 100 percent nylon. It has a smooth, matte finish, and I’m guessing most of the Super Puffs you see IRL feature the CliMATTE material. While it works in light-to-moderate rain and snow, the insulation is where it shines.
The other outer shell I tried is Aritzia’s“Rainstop” fabric, which the company describes as waterproof and windproof, making it a better option for harsh elements than the CliMATTE fabric. That’s also because Super Puffs with the Rainstop are double layered, so the shell’s back coating is 100 percent polyurethane. They also have fully sealed seams, bonded channels, and water-repellent zippers. If you live somewhere where it rains or sleets pretty hard, Rainstop is your best bet.
Unfortunately, the outer shell is where I felt Lululemon fell short. The outer shells ranged from 100 percent nylon to the Wunder Puff’s 100 percent recycled polyester. And while they do offer a water-resistant and a waterproof Glyde fabric, the one I felt didn’t seem as solid as the Rainstop.
And in terms of extra design bits, the Super Puffs have supersoft cuffs with thumbholes to keep your wrists and palms warm. This design is a major bonus if you’re someone who walks your dog in the winter or neglects to wear gloves due to dexterity issues.
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