Lululemon Athletica (NASDAQ:LULU) appoints former Twitch boss Mike Aragon as the chief executive officer of its fitness tech unit MIRROR along with lululemon Digital Fitness, coming into effect on 17 January.
Aragon replaces the founder of MIRROR Bryn Putnam, who unexpectedly left the company last year.
Yoga-pants maker Lululemon acquired the workout-at-home company – which displays interactive instruction via a large reflective screen - in summer 2020 amidst the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns that saw most gyms close.
Aragon joins lululemon from Amazon, where he spent five years as chief content officer for Twitch, the video game live-streaming platform.
During his time at Twitch, the Amazon owned media company increased the number of ‘content creators’ using the platform to 8mln from 1mln, meanwhile, the platform began an expansion beyond gaming and into other forms of entertainment in a bid to grow the total time spent by users watching content streams.
At MIRROR, Aragon is expected to oversee development and expansion and will report to Lululemon Athletica chief executive, Calvin McDonald.
“Mike Aragon has an impressive track record of building successful brands by connecting people and building communities through digital content and experiences,” McDonald said in a statement.
Aragon, meanwhile, added: “MIRROR has a strong market position with a growing subscriber base, and I look forward to building upon this solid foundation and defining the next chapter of growth with the talented MIRROR team.”
The company has recently been on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Nike, who claim MIRROR's home gym and mobile app infringe on its patents for digital exercise equipment.
The lawsuit by Nike latest in the home fitness industry, where companies are increasingly relying on the courts to protect their own products from competition while expanding into new lines of business,