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Walking into Lululemon’s Vancouver headquarters is like walking into an alternate universe ruled by yogis. Employees happily show up to work early for morning hikes, and butt-lifting stretchy pants are the de facto office uniform. Meeting rooms are called Ashtanga and Vinyasa, and people drop lines like “give without expectation” or “set your intention” in regular conversations with zero hint of irony.

The athletic apparel retailer has long held a reputation for putting the “cult” in office culture. But it isn’t all downward dogs and zen mantras. Their headquarters are also home to one of the most high-tech labs in the business. The research and development inner sanctum, located in the campus basement, is called Whitespace. It’s packed with cutting edge machines that cost more than the average house.

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It’s here Lululemon took on the task of elevating the simple bikini into a blend of fashion and state-of-the-art technology for Canada’s Olympic beach volleyball players. The result is much more than two pieces of nylon cloth to cover the body, and – if all goes right – the innovative uniforms may just give Canada’s athletes a little extra edge to bring home the gold from Rio.