Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman

For both Patagonia and Chouinard, simplicity is an aesthetic, ethical, and existential code: Designing and developing a product with the ultimate goal of simplicity results in something perfectly suited to its function. Living simply means consuming only what one needs, thus sparing the environment unnecessary harm. It also means rejecting the wealth of consumer choices and its attendant dissatisfaction for the satisfaction of caring for a small number of possessions. Living according to this principle of simplicity also begets happiness; as Chouinard says, simplicity doesn’t create a “an impoverished life but one richer in all the ways that really matter” (606).

Simplicity becomes the central tenant of Chouinard’s life in his teens when he ditches middle-class comforts to become a climbing bum. He develops this philosophy of life from the Zen Buddhist teaching that happiness is found in simplicity. Chouinard both follows this teaching himself and proselytizes it through Patagonia’s public outreach channels. It appears as a central element of the lifestyle Patagonia markets in the rejection of unnecessary consumption and embrace of the spartan pleasures of the outdoors. Simplicity also becomes the cornerstone of Patagonia’s design philosophy and Chouinard’s philosophy of activity. Just as it is better to climb a route with as little gear as possible, it is best for a garment to function with as few components as possible.