New brand to David Jones, Patagonia, is on a mission to swim against the tide, one stitch at a time.
Most people know Patagonia as an outdoor clothing and gear brand. Yvon Chouinard started the company in 1973, making hardware and clothing for climbing. Today, the iconic outerwear brand is in business to accomplish a lot more than making clothing and profit.
We spoke with Patagonia to find out how they’re planning to change the way we think about fashion, and what steps they’re taking to ensure that their quality and products are in it for the long haul.
“Everything we make has an impact on the planet. At Patagonia, we seek to reduce our environmental footprint, through using recycled and organic materials, eliminating harmful chemicals, and ensuring the people who are making our products are paid a living wage. David Jones’s commitment to sustainability principles and belief in these shared values, have meant that together we’re offering Australians better choices when seeking the gear they need.”
Tell us about your Unfashionable campaign.
Since Patagonia’s founding in 1973, the company has remained committed to building the absolute highest quality products that are built for years, not seasons, while causing the least amount of harm to the planet.
In the words of Yvon Chouinard, “I’ve been thinking a lot about the secret of our success, I can boil it down very simply to being absolute zealots about quality. Making it cool to buy stuff that’ll last a lifetime.”
For the Unfashionable campaign, we began with the idea that if the gear we make isn’t of the best quality, someone might get hurt. As our impact on the planet increased, we extended that thinking to how our products are made…instead, we make gear that is multifunctional, repairable and timeless—because the longer it stays in play, the better for the earth. Quality is an environmental issue.
Today, 50 years into the Patagonia experiment, our dedication to quality has not wavered and only become more expansive.
How is Patagonia committed to helping the planet?
Our company is guided by our mission statement: ‘We’re in business to save our home planet’. It’s the touchstone for every decision we make.
Every year, we donate 1% of our sales to grassroots environmental groups through our 1% For the Planet commitment. In 2022, Patagonia made the planet its only shareholder: we created a purpose trust to lock in our core values, including our commitment to save our home planet. Every dollar that doesn’t go back into our business goes to work protecting and restoring the Earth. Since 1985, the company has contributed nearly US$230 million to environmental organisations.
What kind of initiatives do you have in place to ensure clothing lasts for years, not seasons?
Yvon Chouinard started Patagonia as a climbing equipment company, not as a clothing company. With climbing [equipment], you don’t make a product that is good, better, or even just best, because customers’ lives depend on the quality of what you are doing.
As the company grew, we created a process for how we measured the quality of what we were doing – including further reducing the impact our clothing had on the environment. Our desired outcome was not profitability; it was based on designing an objective measurement of quality.
Patagonia also keeps your gear going. We believe that repairing garments is a radical act. One of the most responsible things we can do as a company is to make high-quality stuff that lasts for years and can be repaired, so you don’t have to buy more of it. The most responsible thing you can do as a customer is to keep your gear longer in play.
What advice would you give to customers looking to curate a more considered wardrobe?
Patagonia has a long history of asking customers to think differently about the clothes they wear, the importance of choosing quality, buying only what they need, and repairing when necessary.
In 2013 we launched Worn Wear, emphasising repair and responsible consumption along with selling used Patagonia products.
The advice we would give to customers looking to curate a responsible wardrobe is to think differently about the clothes they wear, the importance of choosing quality, buying only what they need, and repairing when necessary.
Be a product owner, not a consumer. There’s a difference. Owners take responsibility for their purchases from proper cleaning to repairing, reusing and sharing just like you would if you own a home, a car, a bicycle, a surfboard, or a pair of skis. Consumers take, make, discard and repeat — a pattern that is driving us toward ecological bankruptcy.
Try also to consider the impact of consumption on people and the planet by choosing materials such as organic cotton, recycled polyester and products that are Fair Trade Certified ™. If possible, you can also buy a used garment that also significantly reduces your carbon footprint.
RIGHT PHOTO: TIM DAVIS
What does the future look like for Patagonia?
As Yvon said in the Let My People Go Surfing book, “Only those businesses operating with a sense of urgency, dancing on the fringe, constantly evolving, open to diversity and new ways of doing things, are going to be here one hundred years from now.”
50 years ago, Yvon Chouinard started this experiment in being a responsible business, and today, as the team at Patagonia looks towards the next 50, we’re serious about addressing the environmental crisis. If we have any hope of a thriving planet—much less a thriving business—50 years from now, it is going to take all of us doing what we can with the resources we have. By moving from extractive capitalism to regenerative capitalism, we can secure a better future for everyone.