Reasons We Love Patagonia
7 years ago by
Brie Welch
We are in love…with Patagonia. Garance constantly gushes over their incredible ethics and Emily may or may not have considered buying the entire store after her recent Patagonia clad ski trip to Lake Tahoe. Come to think of it, my first creative meeting here with the team consisted mainly of tangents about everyone’s love for the brand.
For me, it all started when I watched their documentary The Fisherman’s Son – a touching and thought provoking piece about environmentalist surfer, Ramon Navarro, and the ancient relationship the people on Chile’s coast have with the ocean. Which I would say is a pretty rare way to become infatuated with a brand, don’t you think? That’s what makes Patagonia so magical. They’ve created this incredible, informative environment for their consumers and are truly reinventing what it means to be socially responsible. So, here is a round up of reasons why WE, as a team, love Patagonia.
1. It was started by a band of climbers & surfers and inspired by their minimalist/ utilitarian approach to style. Founder Yvon Chouinard is a rock climber and alpinist who quickly became a trailblazer in conscious business and a hero among environmentalists. His motto… “don’t buy what you don’t need” is a refreshing and honest look at consumer culture.
2. They donate their time, services, and at least 1% of total sales (a self-proclaimed “Earth Tax”) to hundreds of grassroots environmental activist groups all over the world.
3. They are honest, aware, and open about pollution and their effect on the environment. (Check out their Footprint Chronicles).
4. A large portion of their products are made from recycled materials or raw organic cotton – even their catalogs! Plastic soda bottles are made into fleece jackets, guayule plants are made into wetsuits, and they offer 192 products that are Fair Trade Certified.
5. They fix customers gear for free (under warranty), teach them how to fix broken items, encourage them to purchase quality used clothing or gear, AND they take back all worn out Patagonia products that consumers return to the store at no charge to then recycle them into their supply chain.
6. They support their employees with medical insurance, maternity & paternity leave (yay for mom & dad!), subsidized child-care, and paid internships with non-profit environmental groups.
7. Their internal investment fund Tin Shed Ventures helps like-minded, socially responsible start-up companies use their business to address environmental problems.
8. They use their voice to advocate for systemic change on issues they are genuinely concerned about through their blog The Cleanest Line.
9. Their mission statement: “Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.”
10. And last, but definitely not least…you can have fun wearing their conscious clothes and you don’t even have to be the outdoorsy type to work it out. You can give it some city flair like Brionka (who, granted, makes just about anything look cool).
Patagonia, we love you, keep doing your thing!
Love Patagonia, the down coats look incredible chic and sporty at the same time!
http://heelsandpeplum.com
I must admit they make good things. But overall I prefer North Face. North Face coats never go out of style, because they are never in style, really. They just are. Patagonia isn’t like that.
Ahhhh me too! Love the brand and love Yvon Chouinard ;) Great Spirit !
Not being a big outdoorsy person I didn’t know much about Patagonia, but I loved discovering about that brand in the podcast “How I built this” where Yvon Chouinard explains how the brand was created and its unique philosophy! Passionant!
This podcast is the best!
The patagonia episode was seriously inspiring.
Thank you ! Thank you ! and thank you for this.
The direction of this blog makes me happy. You are using your platform to raise awareness in a non-shouty manner. Good job team !
What’s not to love : ) and they do such a nice job with color!
I love Patagonia. Their book “Let my people go surfing” changed my view on the environment and business.
Also, Brie, the styling is amazing!!!!! :)
Thank you Alexia! <3
And I believe their goose down is obtained humanely. Does anyone know?
Hi Tera,
To answer your question, here is a small description of their practices regarding down from the company website, “Patagonia down products contain only Traceable Down. This means we trace the source of our down from parent farm to apparel factory to help ensure that the birds are not force-fed or live-plucked. The Traceable Down Standard provides the highest assurance of animal welfare in the apparel industry”
I’m a big fan of Patagucci especially their business ethics. Everything you’ve listed are the primary reasons that I support the brand. Their clothing, especially base-layers are a winter MUST. However, I have consistently found one major problem with the brand: Their clothing, especially for women, is made for a VERY specific body type (i.e. very straight). If one is blessed with a single curve, whether boobs, hips or thighs, their clothing goes haywire and ill-fitting. This means that even if you love and are willing to support the brand, ill-fitting clothes is just never cute and at their price-points it becomes a major problem. That said, they remain my first go-to for anything outdoorsy!
Out of curiosity, is this a sponsored post? It seems so out of left field, and the adoration so effusive, that I felt sort of confused. (Kudos to Patagonia for all of their good works, though. Not trying to detract from them.) Maybe I’m just a cynical East Coaster but thought it was worth asking!
Hi Emily,
Totally understand why you would ask this question! In this case, the post was not sponsored in any way. We genuinely appreciate what Patagonia stands for and promotes (and of course we love their products!). We always make sure to state when a post is sponsored so we can uphold an honest environment for our readers. Hope this helps with the confusion!
Tori xx
Thanks for clarifying, Tori! :)
Je suis également super fan de la marque mais tant d’engouement m’effraie un peu…
Un peu de recul s’il vous plaît notamment au regard du prix des vêtements et de leur lieu de fabrication…
This shoot is awesome!
http://ontomywardrobe.com/
Hi,
I can’t find the black jacket on your images anywhere on patagonia webiste:( could you please tell us which style is that?thanks:)
Hi Ksenia,
I don’t believe the exact style is available online right now, but the first jacket included in our “shop this story” section under the post is almost identical!
Tori x
—This is an incredible case study that exemplifies socially responsible initiatives that are true to the brand and mindful of the consumer.
I can see that GD may want to model after Patagonia– however, I’ll note the few key differences that just initially come to mind:
Patagonia is modeling social responsibility with their actions and the specific and measurable outcomes that result. As a company, they are holding themselves accountable to the impact that they desire. In other words, they aren’t just talking about it. GD team– ask yourselves, how are you moving the needle?
Folks buy Patagonia because their products are great. Note that the Patagonia consumer is buying, say, a sweater, and though that purchase may have been influenced or informed by Patagonia’s social responsibility, in the end, the Patagonia consumer is still buying a sweater. GD team– ask yourselves, are you “selling” something (i.e. providing content will attract readers/traffic that will generate demand for advertisers) that consumers would find desirable even without socially responsible initiatives. HINT: The sweater itself isn’t the social initiative. Don’t let your blog content that pushes your social initiatives get in the way of serving up a bomb ass sweater.
Patagonia has goals that are clearly defined; the company is transparent about their shortcomings and open to discussing what they’re doing, how their doing it, and where they are coming up short. GD team– ask yourselves, what *is* your goal? How are you going to reach that goal? HINT: Patagonia has measurable outcomes. Even if the GD team’s goals are as fluffy as, “We want to spark dialogue,” you can still get feedback about if you’re doing a good job of that.
Rugged outerwear as fashion equals natural beauty!
Beautiful shoot and company ethics – I just worry about Patagonia’s use of recycled polyester in their fleece jackets.
“Based on an estimate of consumers across the world laundering 100,000 Patagonia [fleece] jackets each year, the amount of fibers being released into public waterways is equivalent to the amount of plastic in up to 11,900 grocery bags.”
https://www.outsideonline.com/2091876/patagonias-new-study-finds-fleece-jackets-are-serious-pollutant
But wait- doesn’t washing fleece put micro particles of plastic into the eco system’s water which then end up clogging up fish and disrupting our endocrine systems etc..?
I just watched the “The fisherman’s son” documentary. Beautifully filmed and so inspiring.
Is the first jacket Patagonia? I can’t find it online or in stores… It’s a really different look from the one in the shop the story. Thx!
Hi Sam,
The first jacket is Patagonia! Unfortunately, the exact coat is not available yet on the website, but I have tried my best to find the some other alternatives from Patagonia (other than the one we already have in the shop this story), links below:
http://bit.ly/2loXAKs
http://bit.ly/2kTqQfh
Great ideas but what about animal’s treatment??? Jackets with fur (coyote…).
Seriously, do we really need to wear fur in our countries? Do we live in North Pole??
Belles idées mais qu’en est il du traitement réservé aux animaux? Parkas avec fourrure (coyote…)
Sérieusement, a t’on besoin de porter de la fourrure dans nos pays? Vivons nous au Pole Nord?
Wow, I love the brand too!
Concerning the jacket I did find it on the website: http://eu.patagonia.com/frFR/product/womens-downtown-jacket?p=28602-1-MGLB
These pullovers for women looks similar and pretty cool too :
http://eu.patagonia.com/frFR/product/womens-synchilla-lightweight-fleece-snap-t-fleece-pullover?p=25455-http://eu.patagonia.com/frFR/product/womens-synchilla-lightweight-fleece-snap-t-fleece-pullover?p=25455-1
nice to see a person of color in this post. more please.