Last weekend Honolulu yogaholics rejoiced — Vancouver-based yoga clothing maker lululemon opened its first Hawai'i showroom on Ward Avenue. On Saturday about 40 people lined up waiting for the store to open and to take a free class with Mary Bastien, who owns Open Space Yoga Studio in Chinatown.

Bastien is already a lululemon acolyte. "Their clothes form to your body, so when you're practicing or teaching, you're not worried about your stomach showing, or something coming out," she says. "You feel very confident in their clothes." Other lines, Bastien notes, can be too loose, "and you're having to fix yourself, you're just fussing with your clothes all the time."

She also cites lululemon's bright colors and quality.

The company is known for the way it fosters community wherever it opens a store. For example, lululemon hires local "ambassadors," such as Bastien.

Lululemon manager Estie Fletter attended one of Bastien's classes, says the yoga instructor. Afterward, Fletter invited Bastien to be an ambassador, which also involves modeling for the company.

"Our goal is to have a weekly class," says Fletter, who was previously manager of a lululemon in San Francisco. "We'll try to get different instructors from throughout the community."

The company will also open a store at Ala Moana Center in spring 2008. In the meantime, the Honolulu showroom will hold the classes, shopping events and design meetings.

Chip Wilson, a veteran of the skateboard and snowboard industry, founded lululemon in 1998 after discovering yoga. He's also stirred controversy in the Canadian press. He has been quoted as saying he chose the company's name for its difficult pronunciation for Japanese customers — he thought that worked as a marketing tool in Japan.

Reach Lesa Griffith at lgriffith@honoluluadvertiser.com.