The changes came in August, a spokesperson told Retail Dive, just a few weeks before the arrival of new CEO Heidi O’Neill.

Changes to Lululemon’s raw materials team came a few weeks before Heidi O’Neill’s official start date at Lululemon.

The CEO began her tenure last month and announced a number of changes to the retailer’s C-suite just last week. Included among them was the appointment of Athleta CEO Maggie Gauger as chief product officer, where she will oversee Lululemon’s merchandising and design teams, alongside materials science and innovation.

O’Neill’s restructuring of the C-suite is aimed at putting product design back in focus at Lululemon, which has suffered from a number of merchandising missteps in recent years. Some of those missteps have been directly tied to the materials Lululemon uses.

The retailer’s Get Low leggings were pulled from its website in January after customer complaints that they were see-through. The retailer then put them back online with new fit and sizing guidance. That came just a couple of years after Lululemon caught flak from shoppers for its Breezethrough leggings, which customers found thin and unflattering.

While hiring a new product chief and emphasizing design are promising signs, William Blair analysts noted last week that Gauger has had “little tangible success” at Athleta, and Lululemon has yet to replace its global creative director.

“Having executives from Nike and Athleta at the top makes sense on paper as these people are experienced — but the performance of both of these brands has been far from stunning,” GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders told Retail Dive last week.

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