Yvon Chouinard
Patagonia's founder is on a mission to save our home planet
Patagonia was founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, based in Ventura, California. A certified B-Corporation, Its mission is to save our home planet. The company is recognised internationally for its commitment to authentic product quality and environmental activism, donating 1% of sales annually, contributing over $100 million in grants and in-kind donations since 1985.
Patagonia’s founder Chouinard famously told his customers “Don’t buy this jacket”, preferring them to keep wearing their favourite fleeces, rather than buy a new one, and thereby save the wonderful outdoor environment in which he loves to climb, fish and kayak.
Chouinard started climbing in 1953 as a 14-year-old member of the Southern California Falconry Club, which trained hawks and falcons for hunting. He scrambled up and down the cliffs to the falcon eyries, and from their developed a love for climbing the big rocks of Yosemite National Park.
He invented a new type of steel piton, the metal spikes which climbers hammer into rocks to hold their ropes, and it soon became a profitable business. However, after some years he realised that these pitons were damaging the environment, as they were left behind corroding, and damaging the rocks. He decided to stop making pitons.
His move into clothing was sparked by a visit to Scotland, where he bought a strong, colourful rugby shirt which he judged perfect for climbing, and soon started to diversify and grow his range. Soon he became aware of the negative impacts in growing and manufacturing cotton, the huge amounts of water and chemicals required. He moved to organic cotton, with natural dyes. The increasing cost of sourcing and production meant that prices had to rise, but he thought it worth, and thought his consumers would think likewise.
Chouinard has always loved the outdoors, and the business’ mission has long been “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
In 2011 Patagonia gained B Corp certification. This is a private certificate issued to for-profit companies by B Lab, a global non-profit organisation. Companies are evaluated continually on a wide range of social and environmental criteria and must also publicly commit to the B Corp declaration.
Chouinard has also been a vocal driver of the B Corp movement, and constantly using his own business to do more for the world.
A year later, Patagonia also changed its legal structure, to become a Benefit Corporation (not the same as a B Corp), which is a legal for-profit entity that is required to transparently work in the best interests of all stakeholders, rather than just its shareholders.
Chouinard is passionate to do more for our world. So much so that in 2018, now a $200m company, he changed the organisation’s mission to be more direct and urgent. “Patagonia is in business to save our home planet” rather than the previous “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
It means that Chouinard, and the Patagonia company, have become more political, challenging the US administration on issues from climate change to human rights, taxation and land use policies. They have endorsed political candidates who support their aims and campaigned against others. When President Trump decided to reduce the size of a national park, Patagonia created an all-black homepage for its website saying, “The President stole your land”.
Yves Chouinard never set out to be a businessperson. He founded the company so that many more people could appreciate the beauty of wild and natural places. Now he realises that a global band, and profitable business model, and incredibly effective platforms on which to do that.
What’s a B Corporation?
We envision a global economy that uses business as a force for good.
This economy is comprised of a new type of corporation – the B Corporation –
Which is purpose-driven and creates benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
As B Corporations and leaders of this emerging economy, we believe:
- That we must be the change we seek in the world.
- That all business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered.
- That, through their products, practices, and profits, businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit all.
- To do so requires that we act with the understanding that we are each dependent upon another and thus responsible for each other and future generations.
B Corp Certification doesn’t just evaluate a product or service; it assesses the overall positive impact of the company that stands behind it. And increasingly that’s what people care most about.
Certified B Corporations achieve a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment—a rigorous assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment—and make their B Impact Report transparent on bcorporation.net. Certified B Corporations also amend their legal governing documents to require their board of directors to balance profit and purpose.
The combination of third-party validation, public transparency, and legal accountability help Certified B Corps build trust and value. B Corp Certification is administered by the non-profit B Lab.
“We’re making Earth our only shareholder”
In 2022 Chouinard relinquished his ownership in the business and directed its profits to fight climate change. In a news release Chouinard said, “We’re making Earth our only shareholder.” Ownership of the $3billion business was transferred to a foundation, and all future profits (typically around $100m per year) will go directly to fighting climate change. Here’s his letter announcing the change:
