BCBUsinEss.Ca nOVEmBER 2018 BCBusiness 43
I'm glad I didn't wear a suit
jacket to this interview. On a sunny August morn-
ing in Vancouver, Dennis (Chip) Wilson, dressed
in sneakers, blue shorts and a white polo shirt,
is all tanned arms and legs. A competitive swim-
mer in his youth, he's still physically imposing at
63, with piercing pale-blue eyes and a disarming
toothy grin.
Our meeting takes place at the airy, sparsely
decorated Gastown o-ces of Hold It All, holding
company for the family businesses of Lululemon
Athletica founder Wilson; his wife, Shannon Wil-
son; and their ‡ve boys. Those enterprises consist
of technical apparel maker Kit and Ace; real estate
investment, development and management ‡rm
Low Tide Properties; private equity division Wil-
son Capital; and the Wilson Foundation.
On a shelf in the waiting area sits a selection of
books, among them two of Wilson's favourites:
Ayn Rand's libertarian touchstone Atlas Shrugged
and Jim Collins's Good to Great: Why Some Compa-
nies Make the Leap…and Others Don't. Lululemon,
launched in 1998, certainly made the leap. The
yoga-inspired clothing company invented the
athleisure category, but it also got away from its
former chair and
CEO.
Now, Wilson, who speaks quietly, some-
times pausing to cradle his shaved head with
long ‡ngers, is telling his side of the story with
Little Black Stretchy Pants. The autobiography
details his modest upbringing as a Canadian-
American in Calgary, his hard-won success with
athletic apparel pioneer Westbeach Snowboard,
the rise of Lululemon and the events leading to
his ouster as chair before he resigned from the
board in 2015. Its cover—a shot of Wilson's bum
clad in, yes, black stretchy pants—is de‡ant and
self-deprecating.
Wilson has peppered the 20th-anniversary
book with supportive commentary from former
Lululemon colleagues, including Shannon, who
served as lead designer. Along the way, he slams
the company he left for what he calls missed
opportunities, shares his philosophy of life and
defends the Landmark personal development
program. He also weighs in on his infamous 2013
interview with Bloomberg Television, in which
he appeared to blame women's body types for a
problem with Lululemon pants.
But most fascinating is Wilson's account of
how he conceived and built Vancouver-based
Lululemon, partly by drawing on his knack for
peering into the future. Kit and Ace, which shut
all of its international stores last year, hasn't
come close to matching that success.
Wilson may knock Lululemon—where he's
CHIP!
AHOY
Chip Wilson revolutionized
the activewear business
with Lululemon, only to see
the empire he built slip from
his grasp. In a cheeky
new book, the outspoken
billionaire shares his version
of what happened
by NICK ROCKEL
portrait by LINDSAY SIU
LE A DE R SH I P
