"I've been an entrepreneur for almost fifty years. It's hard for me to say those words, like someone admitting they've been an alcoholic or a lawyer." This is how the autobiography of Yvon Chouinard begins — the founder of the outdoor clothing and wetsuit company Patagonia, which uses the image of the Malloy brothers to reach the hearts of surfers. The occasion for meeting him is precisely the Italian launch of his book "Let My People Go Surfing". Originally from Maine but raised in California, Yvon Chouinard is a surfer, mountaineer, skier and fisherman, and at seventy-one he still rides the waves on his surfboard and still goes climbing.

What drove you to make Patagonia a sustainable clothing company?
Initially I started making climbing equipment, but there wasn't much money in it. So I decided to move into clothing for purely economic reasons. But I was producing clothing like everyone else, without thinking about what I was doing. I bought the material, made it and sold it. But I had no idea what lay behind the life of a garment. When I found out, however, about how cotton was grown — the enormous quantities of pesticides and sprays of every kind that were used, the desert that was created on the plantations, with no birds or other animals — at that point I decided I no longer wanted to be part of that business and switched to organic cotton farming. From there we focused on improving all the other production processes as well, bringing other companies along to do the same.

Was it difficult to achieve that result?
Clearly these are difficult decisions. Also because when I decided to switch to organic cotton, that type of farming had virtually ceased to exist. People had tried it but had given up, given the enormous difficulties and very high costs. So we had to convince the farmers and all the operators to change the way they farmed, to clean all the machinery. It wasn't easy, but in 18 months we reached the goal, partly because I told the whole company that either we switched to organic cotton or we would never produce clothing again.

Organic cotton, fleeces made from recycled plastic and a partnership with the business association 1% For The Planet. This is the portrait of a man who is, and has been, an innovator in business. One of the projects he himself describes as "exciting" is the Common Threads Recycling Program: the company will collect used polyester garments from customers in order to recycle them into new fibres.

But his entire lifestyle is built on a concern for the environment and the impact he has on it — from the first pitons used for climbing in the 1970s, which left no marks on the mountain face, to the house he lives in.

Is it true that your house is built from recycled materials?
Yes, yes, it's true. I used stone discarded from roads. After the last earthquake in Los Angeles, I could buy the material for 2 dollars a tonne. And all the wood used is recycled, as are the roof tiles, which I salvaged from an old house. Everything is recycled, except the plumbing and the bathroom fixtures (laughs!). And I never need to heat it or cool it, because it's very efficient.

Following the economic crisis of recent months, many consumers are paying closer attention to what they buy, to quality and to the entire supply chain behind a particular product, whether it's food or a garment. And confirmation comes from the words of Mr. Patagonia himself.

Is something changing in the world, in the wake of the recent economic crisis too?
I love the economic crisis. Because we are increasing our sales: we grew by 10% last year. And this is happening because customers are paying much closer attention to what they buy. They no longer follow fashion. They may be willing to spend a little more on a quality product that lasts over time. And the economic crisis has killed the competition. Those of us who are part of Generation X will probably not do much to prevent, for example, climate change, or to change our lifestyle, but the next generation — Generation "Why", those aged between 15 and 24 — is very serious: they don't watch TV, they don't listen to or believe advertising, they share ideas with each other about which product to buy, they want a simple life and they want to save the planet. And this generation is growing up, and companies will have to adapt to this shift in mindset.

What is your idea of happiness?
I believe happiness is achieved through simplicity. Of course, simplifying one's life is not easy, but it's a journey and I think it's important to try.