The Story of Patagonia

The Story of Patagonia Illustration

Tap any word for its meaning

Patagoniashì一家yī jiā独特dú tè价值观jià zhí guān著称zhù chēngde服装fú zhuāng公司gōng sīde故事gù shì传统chuán tǒng企业qǐ yè截然不同jié rán bù tóngPatagonia is a clothing company renowned for its unique values, and its story is completely different from traditional enterprises.

故事gù shìyàocóng创始人chuàng shǐ rén伊冯·乔伊纳德yī fēng · qiáo yī nà dé说起shuō qǐThe story starts with the founder Yvon Chouinard.

shìwèi狂热kuáng rède攀岩pān yán爱好者ài hào zhěHe is a passionate rock climbing enthusiast.20世纪50年代经常jīng cháng朋友péng you攀岩pān yánIn the 1950s, he often went rock climbing with friends.dàn发现fā xiàn市面shì miànshàngnéngmǎidàode攀岩pān yán工具gōng jù不仅bù jǐn价格jià gé昂贵áng guì质量zhì liàng不佳bù jiāBut he discovered that the rock climbing tools available on the market were not only expensive but also of poor quality.于是yú shì伊冯yī fēng萌生méng shēngle自己zì jǐ制作zhì zuò工具gōng jùde想法xiǎng fǎThus, Yvon had the idea to make his own tools.起初qǐ chūzài自家zì jiā车库chē kù手工shǒu gōng打造dǎ zào工具gōng jùInitially, he handcrafted tools in his own garage.

这些zhè xiē工具gōng jù设计shè jì简洁jiǎn jiéquè经济jīng jì实惠shí huìyòu性能xìng néng出色chū sèThese tools were simple in design, yet both affordable and outstanding in performance.后来hòu lái朋友péng youmen纷纷fēn fēn慕名mù míng而来ér lái购买gòu mǎiLater, friends came one after another to buy them upon hearing their reputation.渐渐地jiàn jiàn dezhè演变yǎn biànchéngle一家yī jiā小型xiǎo xíng公司gōng sīGradually, this evolved into a small company.时间shí jiān来到lái dào20世纪70年代伊冯yī fēng苏格兰sū gé lán攀岩pān yánThe time came to the early 1970s, when Yvon went to Scotland for rock climbing.

zài那里nà lǐ购得gòu dé一件yī jiàn橄榄球gǎn lǎn qiúshānHe purchased a rugby shirt there.惊喜jīng xǐde发现fā xiàn这种zhè zhǒng衣服yī fu极其jí qí结实jié shi耐磨nài mó特别tè bié适合shì hé户外hù wài探险tàn xiǎn活动huó dòngHe was pleasantly surprised to discover that this type of clothing was extremely sturdy and wear-resistant, especially suitable for outdoor adventure activities.回到huí dào美国měi guóhòu便biàn尝试cháng shì生产shēng chǎn同样tóng yàng耐用nài yòngde服装fú zhuāngAfter returning to the United States, he then tried to produce similarly durable clothing.1973nián伊冯yī fēng正式zhèng shì创立chuàng lìlexīn品牌pǐn páiPatagoniaIn 1973, Yvon officially founded the new brand 'Patagonia'.

de愿景yuàn jǐngshì生产shēng chǎn经久jīng jiǔ耐穿nài chuānde服装fú zhuāngbìng最大限度zuì dà xiàn dù减少jiǎn shǎoduì地球dì qiúde资源zī yuán消耗xiāo hào污染wū rǎnHis vision was to produce long-lasting clothing and to minimize the consumption of Earth's resources and pollution as much as possible.此后cǐ hòuPatagonia声名鹊起shēng míng què qǐzhè不仅bù jǐn源于yuán yú卓越zhuó yuède产品chǎn pǐn品质pǐn zhìgèng得益于dé yì yúduì环境保护huán jìng bǎo hùde坚定jiān dìng承诺chéng nuò例如lì rúThereafter, Patagonia rose to fame, not only due to its excellent product quality, but also thanks to its firm commitment to environmental protection. For example:

大量dà liàng采用cǎi yòng回收huí shōu材料cái liào制造zhì zào服装fú zhuāngExtensively using recycled materials to manufacture clothing.

积极jī jí倡导chàng dǎoshǎo购买gòu mǎide理念lǐ niànActively promoting the concept of 'buy less'.

鼓励gǔ lì顾客gù kè修补xiū bǔ破损pò sǔn衣物yī wù而非ér fēi直接zhí jiē丢弃diū qìEncouraging customers to repair damaged clothing rather than discarding it directly.

甚至shèn zhì他们tā mencéngzài一则yī zé引起yǐn qǐ轰动hōng dòngde广告guǎng gàozhōng直言不讳zhí yán bù huìde呼吁hū yù别买bié mǎi这件zhè jiàn夹克jiá kèEven, they once bluntly called out in a sensational advertisement: 'Don't buy this jacket!'

旨在zhǐ zài促使cù shǐ人们rén men反思fǎn sī过度guò dù消费xiāo fèi共同gòng tóng守护shǒu hù地球dì qiúAiming to prompt people to reflect on excessive consumption and jointly protect the Earth.如今rú jīnPatagonia早已zǎo yǐ超越chāo yuè一家yī jiā普通pǔ tōng成功chéng gōng企业qǐ yède范畴fàn chóu已成为yǐ chéng wéi众多zhòng duō公司gōng sī效仿xiào fǎngde可持续kě chí xù发展fā zhǎn典范diǎn fànNowadays, Patagonia has long surpassed the category of an ordinary successful enterprise, becoming a sustainable development model emulated by many companies.

yòng行动xíng dòng证明zhèng míngIt proves with actions:商业shāng yè成功chéng gōng保护bǎo hù地球dì qiú可以kě yǐ并行bìng xíng不悖bù bèiBusiness success and protecting the Earth can go hand in hand.

Want to read along with audio? Every story in the Literate Chinese app is narrated by a native speaker — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin — so you can listen while you read, and tap any word to save it as a flashcard. See what's in the app.

More free stories: all business stories and other Chinese reading practice · traditional characters · how graded readers work

Try reading your first story

The fastest way to make characters stick is to meet them in a story you can actually finish. Literate Chinese has 650+ graded stories matched to the words you know — in Mainland or Taiwan Mandarin, Simplified or Traditional. Free on iOS and Android.

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

Prefer the browser? Read a free story on the web →