Shannon Wilson

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Shannon "Summer" Wilson is a Canadian fashion designer, businesswoman, artist, and philanthropist. She is best known for her former role as lead designer at the yoga apparel company Lululemon Athletica. [1] In 2014, she founded Kit and Ace, [2] a technical luxury apparel company. [3] [4]

Contents

Education

Wilson received her BFA in fashion design from the University of Victoria. [5]

Business

In 2014, Wilson and her stepson JJ Wilson founded Kit and Ace, a luxury T-shirt retailer made with a proprietary cashmere blend. The first studio pop-up location opened in Vancouver in July of that year.[ citation needed ]

Other activities

In 2007, along with her husband, Chip Wilson, founder of Lululemon Athletica, she established imagine1day, a nonprofit organization committed to bringing primary education to 80 percent of children in Ethiopia by 2030. [6] In 2012, the Wilson family donated $1.5 million to the Vancouver Biennale. [7] The donation paid for a metal sculpture designed by Yue Minjun, titled A-maze-ing Laughter, which currently sits in Morton Park, Vancouver. [8]

In 2022, the Wilsons donated $100M to the BC Parks Foundation, the largest conservation donation in Canadian history, to protect and preserve British Columbia's ecosystem. [9]

In 2024, Wilson debuted her first art collection, Organic Formulas. [10]

Awards and honours

In 2014, Wilson received an honorary doctorate from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. [11] In 2015, she and her husband received an honorary doctorate from Kwantlen Polytechnic University. [12]

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References

  1. Chip Wilson's Design Made Lululemon a Winner "Investors.com" June 8, 2012[ dead link ]
  2. "Kit and Ace: Smart, Easy to Love, and Made to Last Apparel for Men and Women. | Kit and Ace". www.kitandace.com.
  3. Lululemon Founder's Wife, Son Launch New Clothing Line in Vancouver "Huffington Post" August 6, 2014[ dead link ]
  4. Reprints, Susan Berfield susanberfield (October 15, 2015). "Lululemon's Founding Family Gets Revenge with Cashmere". Bloomberg. Retrieved January 29, 2016.(subscription required)
  5. Lululemon Founder Named UVic's Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year "Ring.uvic.ca" January 27, 2012
  6. Hands on philanthropic action: building schools in Ethiopia with imgine1day "ecosalon.com" May 23, 2012
  7. Chip and Shannon Wilson's A-maze-ing gift to the people of Vancouver, laughter celebration and freeze flash photo "InsideVancouver.ca" August 9, 2013
  8. Yue Minjun gives Vancouver the last laugh "TheGlobeandMail.com" July 23, 2012
  9. "Lululemon founder Chip Wilson gifts $100M to help protect nature in B.C." cbc.ca. September 15, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  10. "Organic Formulas". summerwilson.com. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  11. "Lululemon founder Chip Wilson receiving honorary doctorate from Emily Carr University of Art + Design | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly". The Georgia Straight. April 24, 2014.
  12. "Chip & Shannon Wilson to receive honorary degrees from KPU | KPU". Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015.