The freakout over the Lululemon price increase is just the latest episode in its bizarre history

Late in 2011, the company began printing the phrase "Who is John Galt?" on its shopping bags. Galt, of course, is the star of Rand's "objectivist" novel, "Atlas Shrugged," which argues that the naked pursuit of self-interest should be society's highest ambition. Founder Chip Wilson read the book when he was 18.

Here's what Wilson says of his company's origins:

"Women’s lives changed immediately [after the pill]. ... Men did not know how to relate to the new female. Thus came the era of divorces.

"With divorce and publicity around equality, women in the 1970′s/80′s found themselves operating as “Power Women.” The media convinced women that they could win at home and be a man’s equal in the business world. Women put in 12 hour work days, attempted to keep a clean and orderly house, and give their children all the love they had pre-divorce. What they gave up however was their social life, exercise, balance, and sleep.

"The 1980′s gave way to Power Women dressing like men in boardroom attire with big shoulder pads. They went to 3 martini lunches and smoked because this is what their “successful” fathers did in the business world.

"Breast cancer also came into prominence in the 1990’s. I suggest this was due to the number of cigarette-smoking Power Women who were on the pill (initial concentrations of hormones in the pill were very high) and taking on the stress previously left to men in the working world.

"Ultimately, Lululemon was formed because female education levels, breast cancer, yoga/athletics and the desire to dress feminine came together all at one time."

He told Canada's National Post Business Magazine, "It's funny to watch them try and say it," when asked about his views on the Japanese pronunciation of the company's name.

In 2009, he wrote:

It was thought that a Japanese marketing firm would not try to create a North American sounding brand with the letter “L” because the sound does not exist in Japanese phonetics. By including an “L” in the name it was thought the Japanese consumer would find the name innately North American and authentic.

In essence, the name “lululemon” has no roots and means nothing other than it has 3 “L’s” in it. Nothing more and nothing less.

Canada's The Tyee reported:

According to those who attended BALLE BC conference, Wilson told the delegates third world children should be allowed to work in factories because it provides them with much-needed wages. They also say he argued that even in Canada there is a place for 12- and 13-year-old street youths to find work in local factories as an alternative to collecting handouts.

"I look at it the same way the WTO does it, and that is that the single easiest way to spread wealth around the world is to have poor countries pull themselves out of poverty," Wilson told The Tyee.

He originally wrote this blog post about himself:

Chip felt that the distributor had paid a premium for the “L” so he challenged himself to come up with a name that had 3 “L’s” for his new company.

The company deleted the post after we first noticed it. It has since been repurposed here.

Ocean is also "engaged, has her own condo, is traveling, fashionable, has an hour and a half to work out a day," Wilson told once told the New York Times.

Read more about that disastrous Bloomberg TV interview here. Wilson was then advised by his board not to conduct any more media interviews.

Read the Lululemon naked yoga blog post here.

Douglas Atkin, author of The Culting of Brands, once told Fast Company, "It's the first time I've heard of anyone almost directly using the techniques of cults and applying them to their business."

The Wall Street Journal reported recently that CEO Christine Day doesn't use focus groups. Rather, she spies on customers herself, as does her staff:

… Ms. Day spends hours each week in Lulu stores observing how customers shop, listening to their complaints, and then using the feedback to tweak product and stores.

Lulu also trains its workers to eavesdrop, placing the clothes-folding tables on the sales floor near the fitting rooms rather than in a back room so that workers can overhear complaints.

One customer described the experience this way:

When I buy stuff at Lululemon, they have often asked me where I work out, as well as who my favorite instructors are. This is not just idle talk — this kind of information is self-consciously gathered by Lululemon sales staff and then reported back to Lululemon HQ every two weeks.

"12 people have been shipwrecked on a deserted island. There is one boat that will hold 6 people and if the 6 people work perfectly as team they have a 10% chance of survival. The people left behind will perish. Would you take me and if yes why and if not why not?"

The company later agreed to retract the claims.

In his discussion of "The Secret" on his corporate blog, Wilson argued that illness was mostly a choice. He wrote:

Health attracts health
Sickness attracts sickness

One of the company's corporate mantras is,

Stress is related to 99% of all illness.

Wilson, again:

Greatness is demanding the best of everything and doing what is required to get it. Greatness is demanding friends who demand the best, demanding the best wife or husband and the best job with the best pay. Greatness is demanding the company you work for to make the best products and be uncompromising in its promise to its customers. Greatness is demanding the best out of one’s self.

The company did not say if the move was linked to the string of controversial headlines Wilson had generated. He stayed on as chairman.

His duties were taken by CEO Christine Day (pictured).

Wilson later invested $14 million in a tea company.

According to Quartz:

Lululemon relies on a single Taiwanese manufacturer for its Luon fabric. ... Single supplier-reliance ensures Lululemon’s manufacturing know-how does not get spread too widely, but also creates risks of bad shipments spoiling sales performance.

Read more at Blisstree, which covered the Lululemon/Calvin Klein story.

Dear Kate CEO Julie Sygiel says her products use a "silky soft, patent-pending fabric" that is wicking, stain releasing, and leak resistant.

If the elastic drawstrings got caught on something, they snapped back and hit consumers in the face, according to a notice from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Duke is named after one of Wilson's sons. He's 35 and an "athletic opportunist" who enjoys surfing in the summer and snowboarding in the winter. Duke makes more than Ocean and is willing to pay up for quality.

One reviewer said, "They are the most comfortable pants I have ever worn. They are extremely versatile. They can be dressed up or down."

"I just bought a new pair today (not knowing they had replaced their previous underwear) and it is horrible!" one customer said. "They feel cheap and the new 'pouch' is very uncomfortable."

He wanted to fund a new startup, Kit & Ace.