Form Follows Function

70’s Synchilla

The Responsible Company : Lessons From Patagonia’s First 40 Years

(Skip the intro and go to 4:17)

Now Go read the book!

http://formfollowsfunctionjournal.tumblr.com/post/26689955241/reading-wearing#notes

Behind the Great Pacific Iron Works store near Ventura Point is the small tin shed where Yvon Chouinard set up his blacksmith shop in 1966. The shed once housed Bob Cooper’s Australian Surf Shop and Morey-Pope’s shaping room. The location was ideal for everyone’s passion: surf and building the finest mountaineering gear in the winter, climb and sell the gear in the summer. Chouinard Equipment Company went on to redesign and improve virtually every tool used in mountaineering, from carabiners to crampons. In 1973, the company branched out to make outdoor clothing under the Patagonia label.

http://media.patagonia.com/tinshed/

Mountain Of All Storms

The journey that started an American subculture. In 1968, five friends Yvon Chouinard, Doug Thompkins, Chris Jones, Lito Tejeda Flores and Dick Dorworth left Ventura, California in a Ford Econoline van. Three and a half months and 16,500 miles later, they arrived at their destination Patagonia. Their first ascent of Fitz Roy’s Southwest Buttress the so-called ‘Californian Route’ was not the only upshot of the trip. Thompkins went on to found Esprit and The North Face, and Chouinard founded Patagonia, providing inspiration for the generations of dirt bags who would follow in their footsteps.

Winner of the Best Film Award at the 1972 Trento Film Festival.

Director/Producer: Doug Thompkins/Yvon Chouinard.

http://formfollowsfunctionjournal.tumblr.com/post/18152002053/watching-180-south-jeff-johnson-retraces#notes

Chouinard 

wornwear:

The Grandfather
Yvon Chouinard, Ventura, California

Dear Patagonia,

Little did we know this blue prototype fleece developed in ’76, which we referred to as rare Siberian blue poodle fur, would be the grandfather of all fleeces.

I knew that people like myself were seeking the joys of outdoor activities in greater numbers and they needed warmer, lighter, quick-drying clothes that did not bog down with moisture as did the  cotton and wool garments then commonly in use. I came to believe that the solution was synthetic layers: a base layer to wick, a fleece layer for warmth and an outside layer for wind and moisture protection. Once we came to that conclusion, Patagonia’s team proved they were up to the task of creatively identifying and developing the necessary fabrics.

As they say, “necessity is the mother of invention,” the “necessity” in this case being the need for a nonabsorbent insulating layer and the “invention” representing the resourcefulness of my wife, Malinda Chouinard, who was willing to try even an ugly fabric intended for toilet seat covers because we suspected it best fit our needs. That’s  how synthetic fleece was born. We made the first fleece jackets out of a near-bankrupt company’s left-over inventory of muddy, nondescript tan and bilious blue fleece, but it did indeed work, although it pilled badly, which made it look even worse. It has evolved, through trial and error, from that “base” into today’s fleeces. 

This first fleece jacket hangs proudly on the wall at Patagonia headquarters, but I had to take it down and try it on for old time’s sake.

―Yvon

(via patagonia)

Vintage 70’s Patagonia Synchilla fleece vest

The summit of Ben Nevis: Yvon Chouinard, Johnny Cunnigham, Hamish McKinnis, Tut Braithwaite

Chouinard Equipment

Early Patagonia Synchilla Fleece