Yvon Chouinard, an accredited rock climber,[2] 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 in order to improve his products and address the growing supply and demand issue he faced.[3]
In 1970, Chouinard obtained rugby shirts from Scotland that he wore while climbing because the collar kept the climbing sling from hurting his neck.[3][4] Collared shirts were then designed and implemented into his merchandise line and quickly became the primary product sold. Chouinard Equipment was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1989 when it lost a series of lawsuits claiming "failure to inform" of safety issues related to usage of climbing hardware including one filed by the survivors of a climber who died in a fall after slipping out of a Chouinard climbing harness. The resultant increases in their product liability insurance were cited by Chouinard as the reason they stopped making climbing gear. The liquidated assets of the climbing gear side were purchased for $900,000 by Chouinard's longtime partner, Peter Metcalf, and reorganized as Black Diamond Equipment. Yvon Chouinard retained the profitable soft goods (clothing) division of the company which had already been rebranded as Patagonia.
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Patagonia has expanded its product line to include apparel targeted towards other sports, such as surfing.[6] In addition to clothing, they offer other products such as backpacks and sleeping bags.[citation needed]
Starting in April 2017 Patagonia merchandise can be returned for new merchandise credits. The used merchandise gets cleaned and repaired and sold on their "Worn Wear" website.[7]
Activism
Patagonia considers itself an "activist company."[8]
Environmental
Patagonia commits 1% of their total sales or 10% of their profit, whichever is more, to environmental groups.[9][citation needed] Yvon Chouinard was a founding member of One Percent for the Planet, an organization that encourages other businesses to do the same.[10][11]
Politics and land preservation
On December 6, 2017, Patagonia sued the United States Government and PresidentDonald Trump for his proclamations of reducing the Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and almost 50% of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.[12][13][14] The company believes that a million acres of land is at risk for permanent destruction. Patagonia is sueing over the The Property Clause of the U.S. Constitution in where it vests Congress with the power to manage federal lands. The compant contends that when Congress passed the Antiquities Act of 1906 (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States)59–209, 34 Stat.225, 54 U.S.C.§§ 320301–320303), "Congress delegated a limited amount of power to the President — specifically, the authority to create national monuments protecting certain federal land. But it did not give the President the power to undo a prior president’s monument designations. It kept that power for itself."[15]
Materials
Down
In 2012, UK animal activist group Four Paws said that Patagonia used live-plucked down feathers and downs of force-fed geese.[16] In a statement on their website, Patagonia denied use of live-plucking but said it had used down procured from the foie-gras industry.[17] As of fall 2014, Patagonia said it was using 100% traceable down to ensure that birds were not force-fed or live-plucked and that down is not blended with down from unknown sources.[18][19]
Wool
In February 2005, Patagonia's sourcing of wool from Australia was criticized by PETA over the practice of mulesing. Patagonia has since moved its sourcing of wool from Australia to South America and the cooperative Ovis 21. However, in August 2015 PETA released new video footage showing how sheep were treated cruelly in Ovis 21 farms.[20] This led Patagonia to stop sourcing wool from Ovis 21.[21]
In June 2016, Patagonia released a set of new wool principles that guide the treatment of animals as well as land-use practices, and sustainability.[22][23]
Polyester
Many Patagonia garments are made of polyester fabric, under their trademark Capilene.
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