Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia's founder got his start as a climber in 1953 as a 14 year old member of Southern California Falconry Club, rappelling down the cliffs to the falcon aeries. Bitten by the bug, he and his friends would spend every weekend scaling the cliffs of Stony Point in the San Fernando Valley.
During the late 60s, men did not wear bright, colourful clothes, not outside. 'Active sportswear' was limited to basic grey sweatshirts. On a winter climbing trip to Scotland in 1970 however, Chouinard bought a red, yellow and blue striped rugby shirt to wear rock climbing. Back at home all his mates wanted one too, so he placed an order with Umbro and the seed for the Patagonia clothing brand was planted...
Since then they have moved on to produce some of the most technically advanced and ecologically sound outdoor pursuit clothi