Patagonia, Inc. is an American retailer of

outdoor recreation Outdoor recreation or outdoor activity refers to recreation done outside, most commonly in natural settings. The activities that encompass outdoor recreation vary depending on the physical environment they are being carried out in. These activitie ...

clothing, equipment, and food. It was founded by

Yvon Chouinard Yvon Chouinard (born November 9, 1938) is an American rock climber, environmentalist, and businessman. His company, Patagonia, sells outdoor products, outerwear, and food. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by '' ...

in 1973 and is based in

Ventura, California Ventura, officially named San Buenaventura (Spanish for "Saint Bonaventure"), is a city in and the county seat of Ventura County, California, United States. It is a coastal city located northwest of Los Angeles. The population was 110,763 at the ...

. Patagonia operates stores in over ten countries, and factories in 16 countries.

History

Yvon Chouinard, an accomplished rock climber, began selling hand-forged mountain climbing gear in 1957 through his company Chouinard Equipment. He worked alone selling his gear until 1965, when he partnered with

Tom Frost Thomas "Tom" M. Frost (June 30, 1936 – August 24, 2018) was an American rock climbing, rock climber known for big wall climbing first ascents in Yosemite Valley. He was also a photographer and Rock-climbing equipment, climbing equipment manufa ...

in order to improve his products and address the growing supply and demand issue he faced. In 1970, Chouinard obtained

rugby shirt A rugby shirt, also known as a jersey or jumper, is worn by players of rugby union or rugby league. It usually has short sleeves, though long sleeves are common as well. Traditionally, rugby shirts have had a buttoned opening at the top, in a si ...

s from Scotland that he wore while climbing because the collar kept the climbing sling from hurting his neck. Great Pacific Iron Works, Patagonia's first store, opened in 1973 in the former Hobson meat-packing plant at Santa Clara St. in Ventura, near Chouinard's blacksmith shop. In 1981, Patagonia and Chouinard Equipment were incorporated within Great Pacific Iron Works. In 1984, Chouinard changed the name of Great Pacific Iron Works to Lost Arrow Corporation. Patagonia has expanded its product line to include apparel targeted towards other sports, such as surfing. In addition to clothing, they offer other related products, including

camping food Camping food is food brought on or designed for camping, hiking, and Backpacking (hiking), backpacking trips. The term also encompasses ingredients that can be used to make said foods. The primary differences relate to campers' and backpackers' s ...

. Its sales grew to $750m by 2015. By the late 2010s, branded Patagonia fleece vests became known for their use by financial executives, and in 2019, Patagonia announced that its distribution of branded products would focus on firms committed to

environmental, social, and corporate governance Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is shorthand for an investing principle that prioritizes environmental issues, social issues, and corporate governance. Investing with ESG considerations is sometimes referred to as ''responsible inv ...

initiatives. In September 2020, Patagonia announced that Rose Marcario would step down as its chief executive officer and be succeeded by Ryan Gellert. In September 2022, Chouinard transferred ownership of Patagonia (all of its voting stock, about 2% of total stock) to the Patagonia Purpose Trust, a

trust Trust often refers to: * Trust (social science), confidence in or dependence on a person or quality It may also refer to: Business and law * Trust (law), a legal relationship in which one person holds property for another's benefit * Trust (bu ...

overseen by the Chouinard family and advisors. Chouinard's stated goal was for profits to be used to address

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

and protect land. All nonvoting stock was transferred to Holdfast Collective, a

501(c)(4) organization A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the Law of the United States#Federal law, federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)). Such organizations are exempt from some Taxation in the Un ...

. The move allows Chouinard to avoid taxation on the gift of the nonvoting shares since it was to a nonprofit holding company, while effectively maintaining control of the company via the affiliated trust's ownership of the voting stock. A

gift tax In economics, a gift tax is the tax on money or property that one living person or corporate entity gives to another. A gift tax is a type of transfer tax that is imposed when someone gives something of value to someone else. The transfer must ...

of $17 million was assessed on the transfer of the voting stock.

Manufacturing

In 2007 and 2011, internal audits revealed that factories in Patagonia's production supply chain in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

were involved in

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

, leading to company efforts to address the labor abuses. It was found in 2011 that Patagonia used unnatural water repellants to make their outerwear able to repel water effectively. These repellants have been found to be carcinogenic; however, Patagonia continued to use them. Since this was found, Patagonia has changed what they use as water repellants, finding only trace amounts of the carcinogens. In June 2016, Patagonia released a set of principles for the treatment of animals used to manufacture

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

garments, as well as land-use practices and

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

. In 2017, Patagonia created a trade-in and exchange program called Worn Wear. Through this program, merchandise in good condition can be returned for new merchandise credits. The used merchandise is cleaned, repaired and sold on its "Worn Wear" website. In 2019, Patagonia launched a program named ReCrafted that creates and sells clothing made from scraps of fabric coming from used Patagonia gear. The program promotes longer life spans for their clothing by providing sewing videos and/or the help of professionals via events in both the United States and Europe. As of 2019, the firm aims to become

carbon neutral Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and Greenhouse gas removal, removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon diox ...

by 2025. Patagonia provides lifetime product

guarantees A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of those at ...

and offers repairs. It also uses a

circular economy A circular economy (also referred to as circularity or CE) is a model of resource Production (economics), production and Resource consumption, consumption in any economy that involves sharing, leasing, Reuse, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and ...

strategy in their

product design Product design is the process of creating new Product (business), products for businesses to sell to their customers. It involves the generation and development of ideas through a systematic process that leads to the creation of innovative products ...

. In 2021, Patagonia announced that it would no longer produce its clothing with added corporate logos to improve garment life-spans. In December 2021, the

European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) is an independent, nonprofit non-governmental organization with the aim of enforcing human rights through legal means. Using litigation, it tries to hold state and non-state actors r ...

filed a criminal complaint in a Dutch court against Patagonia and other brands, alleging that they benefited from the use of forced Uyghur labor in

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. On 10 June 2023, a Dutch investigative journalism platform,

Follow the Money "Follow the money" is a catchphrase popularized by the 1976 docudrama film ''All the President's Men (film), All the President's Men'', which suggests political corruption can be brought to light by examining money transfers between parties. Origi ...

, published an article about Patagonia's use of the same factories that fast-fashion brands use such as

Decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

and

Primark Primark Limited (; trading as Penneys in Ireland) is an Irish multinational fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original ''Penneys'' brand is not used outside of Irel ...

. Workers in these factories work in far worse conditions than the standard that Patagonia publicly set. In the

MAS Holdings MAS Holdings is a Sri Lankan apparel manufacturer. The company was founded in 1987 by Mahesh, Sharad and Ajay Amalean. MAS Holdings began as an underwear manufacturer and later diversified into sportswear, performance wear and swimwear. MAS Ho ...

factories in Sri Lanka, it is not uncommon for them to work shifts of 14 hours. Patagonia uses a method developed by the Anker Research Institute to determine the value of a livable wage. In these factories in Sri Lanka, the workers get paid less than half of this wage. According to Patagonia, they have no control over the wages and conditions in the factories, as they do not own them.

Patagonia Provisions

In 2012, Patagonia created a new division called Patagonia Provisions to produce food products. This began with packaged salmon, but then expanded to tinned fish, dried fruits, jerkies, and other packaged goods popular with outdoors enthusiasts.

Activism

Since 1985, Patagonia has committed 1% of its total sales to environmental groups through One Percent for the Planet, an organization of which

was a founding member. It has also used advertising campaigns to draw attention to the

environmental impact of fashion The fashion industry, particularly the manufacturing and use of apparel and footwear, is a significant driver of greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, water use, and textile waste. During the 19th century, industrialization meant a move towards t ...

, offers repairs on old products, and offers

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

or swapping. In 2016, Patagonia pledged to contribute 100% of sales from Black Friday to environmental organizations, totaling $10 million. In June 2018, the company announced that it would donate the $10 million it received from President Trump's 2017

tax cuts A tax cut typically represents a decrease in the amount of money taken from taxpayers to go towards government revenue. This decreases the revenue of the government and increases the disposable income of taxpayers. Tax rate cuts usually refer ...

to "groups committed to protecting air, land and water and finding solutions to the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...

." In February 2017, Patagonia led a boycott of the Outdoor Retailer trade show, which traditionally took place in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

, because of the Utah state legislature's introduction of legislation that would transfer federal lands to the state. Patagonia opposed then Utah Governor

Gary Herbert Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle. Herbert w ...

's request that the Trump administration revoke the recently designated

Bears Ears National Monument Bears Ears National Monument is a United States national monument located in San Juan County in southeastern Utah, established by President Barack Obama by presidential proclamation on December 28, 2016. The monument protects of public land s ...

in southern Utah. After several companies joined the Patagonia-led boycott, event organizer Emerald Expositions said it would not accept a proposal from Utah to continue hosting the Outdoor Retailer trade show and would instead move the event to another state. On December 6, 2017, Patagonia sued the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

and President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

for his proclamations of reducing the protected land of

by 85% and the

Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument The Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument (GSENM) is a United States national monument protecting the Grand Staircase, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Canyons of the Escalante (Escalante River) in southern Utah. It was established in 19 ...

by almost 50%. Patagonia sued over the interpretation of the Property Clause of the U.S. Constitution in which the country vests

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

with the power to manage federal lands. The company's then-CEO, Rose Marcario, contends that when Congress passed the

Antiquities Act of 1906 The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ) is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the president of the United States the authority to, by presidential proclama ...

, it did not give any president the power to reverse a prior president's monument designations. In July 2020, Patagonia suspended its advertising on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and Facebook's photo-sharing app,

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, as part of the "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign, which some U.S. civil rights organizations launched because they believed the social networking company was doing too little to curb hate speech on its sites. In the lead-up to the

2020 United States elections Elections in the United States, Elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's nominee, former Vice presidents of the United States, vice president Joe Biden, defeated incu ...

, Patagonia began including labels in clothing with the message "Vote the Assholes Out", targeting politicians who endorse

climate change denial Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetor ...

. On April 5, 2021, Patagonia pledged $1 million to the activist groups

Black Voters Matter Black Voters Matter (BVM) is an American 501(c)(4) voting rights and community empowerment organization. BVM's stated purpose is "to increase power in our communities" by focusing on voter registration, getting out the vote, independent electio ...

and the New Georgia Project, regarding voter registration laws in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

References

External links