Let My People Go Surfing &Minding the Store

by Yvon Chouinard & Stanley Marcus

Fashion History and Culture

Patagonia Alpine Climbing Ambassador Steve

House

Anderson-House Direct Route, Rupal Face, Nanga Parbat, 8,125 m

Patagonia Alpine Climbing Ambassador Vince Anderson

http://www.chickswithpicks.net

http://www.patagonia.com/us/ambassadors/alpine-climbing/kitty-calhoun/73290?assetid=1873

Is a part of the brand the aspiration for adventure? In that sense, is Patagonia an aspirational “fashion brand?”

Other active brands have used the “ambassador” approach to infusing their products with expert legitimacy: First Ascent by Edie Bauer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mvf5EwIGPOo

Air Jordan by Nike:

Back to Patagoina, Fitz-Roy and Cerro-Torre, Argentine Patagonia, inspired the brand name and logo.

Image Philosophy

“Our image can’t be made into a formula,” – Yvon Chouinard, 147. Do you agree with this? Isn’t there indeed a “formula” to Patagonia?

This search for “authenticity,” (147) what does this mean?!

Let’s consider other brands that have issued a “call to action” to involve their customer’s lifestyle in the brand Nike’s iconic “Revolution” TV ad introducing the Nike Air, with

music licensed from the Beatles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3sjW5LTm9c

How is the advert innovative? Gender roles Race relations Age Type of sport How it’s shot (black and white) and edited (like an MTV video) Realism approach to cinematography

Realism in sports photography: AE Tittle

Speaking of gender roles in sports, Patagonia was an early supporter of climber Lynn Hill, who is a Patagonia Climbing Ambassador

Hill completed the first free ascent of the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley, with the hardest pitch graded as 5.14a/b She was the first woman to establish a 5.12+/5.13 earlier in her career and the first woman to redpoint a 5.14, Masse Critique in Cimai, France.

Note Chouinard‘s preference for catalogs over websites and TV advertising.... Why does he say this? 149.

Here‘s Tom Brokaw talking with Yvon Chouinard at Zeitgeist in 2007 to give a sense of his world view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlMbcHX1XZA

Image Philosophy, Cont.

Why were the early Patagonia photographs considered to be “corny,” 150?

What were some of the key photo criteria established for submissions? What was wrong with a photo of “jut-jawed” mountaineers planting a flag atop a windswept peak?

Copywriting in Patagonia catalogs has had an environmental activist bent. Example: what happened after the “Clean Climbing” essay was published in 1972 – specifically to their piton business?

Sponsorship and P.R.

Sponsorship creates an incentive that compromises a athlete's values and is a no-win situation long term, 157. How do you feel about this? I have mixed feelings,

actually.

Patagonia’s approach to PR is “aggressive.” If they have an environmental or employee-focused news story they really play it hard from every angle, 157. What take-aways can we learn for other fashion

brands? Toms, for example.

Minding the Store: Ch. 10 Europe and the Fortnights & Ch. 11 The Christmas Catalogue

What was important about The Ambassador magazine? 202

What types of community and civic groups did Stanley Marcus get to support his first French promotional event, what would become the first Fortnight “The Best of France, from A to Z” in 1958? 207

Why was the Fortnight scheduled to take place in October? 210

Compare the Fortnight with the methods of nineteenth century retailers (pipe organs, restaurants) we saw in the Gary Hoover video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyC2GkzKTeM) to infuse retail with entertainment.

Minding the Store: Ch. 10 Europe and the Fortnights & Ch. 11 The Christmas Catalogue

Why can’t you extend a Fortnight and why must you “leave them (the customers) wanting more”? 216.

Stanley Marcus’ “Theatrical form of retailing” List for Fortnight Success: 1. intensive market research for good buying 2. store decoration 3. advertising 4. special events

This lists applies to ALL retailers big and small!

What is “cut, make and trim” and how did Stanley Marcus use this to his advantage with European products?

In his speeches to European manufacturing groups, one difference Stanley Marcus cited between European countries and the U.S. was that in the U.S. there was a diversity of climates.

Minding the Store: Ch. 10 Europe and the Fortnights & Ch. 11 The Christmas Catalogue

How did the catalogue provide entertainment in a similar yet different way than the Fortnight’s did?