Patagonia, Inc. is an American company that sells clothing and equipment for outdoor activities. It was started by Yvon Chouinard in 1973 and is located in Ventura, California. Patagonia has stores in more than ten countries and factories in sixteen countries.
History
Yvon Chouinard, a skilled rock climber, started selling handmade mountain climbing gear in 1957 through his company, Chouinard Equipment. He sold the gear alone until 1965, when he partnered with Tom Frost to improve the products and manage the increasing need for climbing equipment.
In 1970, Chouinard purchased rugby shirts from Scotland. He wore them while climbing because the shirt’s collar helped protect his neck from the climbing sling.
Great Pacific Iron Works, Patagonia’s first store, opened in 1973 in a building that once belonged to a meat-packing company on Santa Clara Street in Ventura, near Chouinard’s blacksmith shop. In 1981, Patagonia and Chouinard Equipment became part of Great Pacific Iron Works. In 1984, the company’s name was changed to Lost Arrow Corporation.
Patagonia later expanded its products to include clothing for other sports, such as surfing. It also sells camping food. By 2015, its sales reached $750 million. By the late 2010s, Patagonia’s fleece vests became popular among financial executives. In 2019, Patagonia announced that it would only sell its products to companies that support environmental, social, and corporate governance efforts.
In September 2020, Patagonia announced that Rose Marcario would leave her role as chief executive officer, and Ryan Gellert would take over as her replacement.
In September 2022, Chouinard transferred ownership of Patagonia (all of its voting stock, about 2% of total stock) to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, a group managed by the Chouinard family and advisors. Chouinard’s goal was for company profits to help fight climate change and protect land. All nonvoting stock was given to Holdfast Collective, a nonprofit organization. This move allowed Chouinard to avoid taxes on the nonvoting shares because they were transferred to a nonprofit, while keeping control of the company through the trust’s ownership of voting stock. A tax of $17 million was charged for transferring the voting stock.
Manufacturing
In 2007 and 2011, internal audits found that factories in Patagonia's production supply chain in Taiwan were involved in human trafficking. This led the company to take steps to fix the labor issues.
In 2011, it was discovered that Patagonia used water-repelling chemicals to make their outerwear water-resistant. These chemicals were found to be harmful and could cause cancer. Despite this, Patagonia continued to use them. After this was found, Patagonia changed the chemicals they use. Now, only small amounts of the harmful chemicals are found in their products.
In June 2016, Patagonia released a set of rules about how animals used for wool should be treated, as well as guidelines for land use and sustainability.
In 2017, Patagonia started a program called Worn Wear. This program allows customers to return used items in good condition for store credit. The returned items are cleaned, repaired, and sold on the "Worn Wear" website. In 2019, Patagonia launched a program named ReCrafted. This program makes and sells clothing from leftover fabric from used Patagonia gear. The program helps clothing last longer by offering sewing videos and professional repair events in the United States and Europe.
As of 2019, Patagonia aims to become carbon neutral by 2025. The company offers lifetime guarantees for its products and provides repair services. It also uses a circular economy strategy in its product design. In 2021, Patagonia announced it would stop adding corporate logos to its clothing to improve how long the garments last.
In December 2021, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights submitted a legal complaint in a Dutch court against Patagonia and other brands. The complaint claimed that these companies benefited from forced labor by Uyghur workers in Xinjiang, China.
On June 10, 2023, an investigative journalism platform called Follow the Money published an article about Patagonia's use of factories also used by fast-fashion brands like Decathlon and Primark. Workers in these factories face much worse conditions than the standards Patagonia publicly sets. In MAS Holdings factories in Sri Lanka, workers often work 14-hour shifts. Patagonia uses a method developed by the Anker Research Institute to calculate a livable wage. However, workers in these factories earn less than half of this wage. Patagonia states it does not control wages or conditions in these factories because it does not own them.
In 2012, Patagonia created a new division called Patagonia Provisions to make food products. This started with packaged salmon and later expanded to include tinned fish, dried fruits, jerky, and other items popular with outdoor enthusiasts.
Activism
Since 1985, Patagonia has dedicated 1% of its total sales to environmental groups through One Percent for the Planet, an organization started by Yvon Chouinard. The company also uses advertising to highlight the environmental effects of fashion, provides repair services for old products, and offers recycling or swapping options. In 2016, Patagonia promised to give 100% of sales from Black Friday to environmental groups, which totaled $10 million. In June 2018, the company announced it would donate $10 million from President Trump's 2017 tax cuts to groups working to protect air, land, and water and address the climate crisis.
In February 2017, Patagonia led a boycott of the Outdoor Retailer trade show, which was usually held in Salt Lake City, Utah, because the Utah legislature proposed moving federal lands to state control. Patagonia opposed Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s request for the Trump administration to remove protections from the Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah. After other companies joined the boycott, the event organizer, Emerald Expositions, decided not to host the trade show in Utah and moved it to another state.
In 2017, Patagonia filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government and President Donald Trump for reducing the size of Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument by nearly 50%. The lawsuit focused on the Property Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress authority to manage federal lands. At the time, Patagonia’s CEO, Rose Marcario, argued that the Antiquities Act of 1906 did not allow any president to undo a previous president’s monument designations.
In 2020, Patagonia stopped advertising on Facebook and Instagram as part of the "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign, which aimed to pressure social media companies to address hate speech. Before the 2020 U.S. elections, Patagonia added labels to clothing with the message "Vote the Assholes Out," targeting politicians who supported climate change denial. On April 5, 2021, Patagonia donated $1 million to Black Voters Matter and the New Georgia Project to support voter registration efforts in Georgia.
Sustainability initiatives
Patagonia makes sustainability a key part of its business and brand. The company’s goal has always been to use business to help solve environmental problems. This idea has shaped many of its choices and made it one of the most well-known companies for caring about the environment in the clothing industry. Over time, Patagonia has worked to protect nature, reduce waste, and improve working conditions through different programs and rules.
A major goal for the company is to focus on materials and product design. Patagonia tries to reduce harm to the environment by using better materials. The company plans to stop using fabrics made from oil completely by 2025. Instead, it uses materials it calls “preferred materials,” such as recycled polyester, organic cotton, Regenerative Organic Certified cotton, and down that meets the Responsible Down Standard. These materials help lower pollution and waste.
Patagonia also works with farming methods that help the soil and environment, especially for cotton and wool. This approach goes beyond basic organic farming by helping farmers improve soil health, absorb carbon dioxide, and support plant and animal life. Experts say this is a change from just recycling to farming in ways that help the planet.
In its supply chain, Patagonia has created programs that work with workers, suppliers, and partner groups. Instead of only checking factories, the company works directly with suppliers to find problems and create tools to solve them together. Studies show this teamwork helps protect workers’ rights and improve environmental standards during production.
Another part of Patagonia’s plan is being open about its supply chain. The company shares information about its factories and partners on its website. It evaluates them based on quality, environmental impact, social responsibility, and how materials are obtained. Patagonia also supports better working conditions and human rights for the people who make its products worldwide.