Worn Wear Stories
When your goal is to raise children in wild places, it helps if you’re flexible.
A Bosnian war refugee’s journey to a lifetime of community activism.
As a repaired shirt becomes more of an original, it still takes the author back.
What’s the secret to a really good pair of jeans? Comics journalist Sarah Mirk tells us what to look for and how to keep them in play longer.
Ashe and Christin Brown are parents to their 3-year-old daughter, Quest, whom they want to raise with an appreciation for the diversity of the natural world.
How Zahan Billimoria recalibrated after unthinkable tragedy.
What if we could wear our garbage? That’s the idea behind ReCrafted, our line of clothing made from the scraps of used garments collected at our Worn Wear facility in Reno. It’s premium, Patagonia, upcycled. A second life for products that might not otherwise get one. ReCrafted was created by Kourtney Morgan—the designer behind some…
Patagonia is no stranger to the difficulty of throwing stuff away. We take back 100 percent of the gear you return for recycling through our Worn Wear program. In 2018, we recycled 6,797 pounds of products. But we can’t recycle or repair everything you send us. Some of it was just too well-loved during use…
I lost track of how many people asked us why we were driving into the deeper nooks of New England during the middle of winter. I knew the answer, but I’d be lying if I didn’t question the reasoning myself. The Worn Wear crew set out to visit a few snow sport communities in the…
After 48 days in the same vehicle with the same four people, five if you count Brandon’s second shadow and beloved dog Rudy (half dog, half human), one is ready for a week of weekends. We romped around for the better part of the last two months, running from Squaw Valley, to Aspen, to Jackson…
Welcome to Patagonia’s Repair Center, where we’ll do just about anything to keep your gear in play. We love fixing gear that’s been worn into near oblivion by our customers. It means we did our job (build beautiful product for years of hard use) and you did yours (play like hell). In our 40 years…
Teaching your kids to fish is smart. Having Yvon Chouinard teach your kids to fish is genius.
We’re a little more than halfway through the tour here in the United States and can’t decide what’s worse: the summer heat down in the South or the demolition y’all do on your garments! Truthfully, we’re not fazed by either. We love the challenging repairs being thrown at us and don’t mind a bit of…
In the spring of 2015, Patagonia hired me to document a lively traverse across the United States—the Worn Wear tour. The story is as follows. “What in the heck is that thing you got there?” mutters a middle age lady smoking a cigarette out back of the service station. “It’s a mobile clothing repair wagon,” I…
We would like to invite you to be among the first to watch Worn Wear, a new film from Keith, Lauren, Chris, and Dan Malloy. Worn Wear is an exploration of quality – in the things we own and the lives we live. This short film takes you to an off-the-grid surf camp in Baja,…
Today’s advertisement appearing in The New York Times: It’s Fashion Week, when the design world turns its attention to what’s new. We’d like to point out something better: what lasts. While we’re proud of the quality and performance of Patagonia clothes, every new thing we make – everything anyone makes – costs nature more than…
Mark Sensenbach perches on a stool, back slightly hunched, eyes down, brows narrowed in concentration. His hands, toughened by mountains and work, maneuver the rubber sole of a climbing shoe against a sanding wheel. His movements made smooth by practice, Mark runs the shoe back and forth, rotates and repeats. He draws it away from…
Dear Patagonia, I don’t actually know the original owner of this little red and purple fleece jacket. I do not know several names scrawled on the tag, but I know some of them… We found this jacket in a large ragged cardboard box of hand-me-downs from a family with three kids. The jacket came to…
Editor’s note: The creation of our new Encapsil™ Down Belay Parka is a big deal for all of us at Patagonia. In the midst of getting everything ready for launch, we asked our friend Ethan Stewart to tell the story of how Encapsil down and the parka came to be. Though he handled the writing…
by Tom Morehouse I have an interesting Patagonia photo to share with you. I was on Christmas Island (Kiribati) in March. My guide was Moana who was one of the founders of bonefishing on Christmas Island in the '80s when he was about 30 years of age. [Nothing beats local knowledge. Moana Kofe scouts for…
Today’s post – about one of the simplest pieces of gear we’ve ever made – comes from Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard. It originally appeared in the 1980 Chouinard Equipment Catalog. When I was at a ski show recently, walking by the booth of one of the largest pack manufacturers, a salesman/designer insisted I come in…
Like flocks of swirling swallows or shimmering schools of tropical fish, our customers swoop in with mysteriously synchronized concerns and questions on a regular basis, prompting the need for ready answers. Times like these, nothing would be more handy than magically beaming knowledge out into the ether. Our very own Old School is here to…
Sartorialists say that clothing makes the man, and in that spirit – meet Christo Grayling. Editor's note: Patagonia clothing designer, John Rapp, shares the type of letter we love to receive from our customers. All photos courtesy of Christo Grayling. I recently had a pair of 15-year-old board shorts sent to me from a Canadian…
The proof is on the pocket bags.
It's happened to all of us. You're out surfing and you keep noticing how cold the water is. You try to write it off but when you finally get out of the water and pull your wetsuit off, you see it: the dreaded neoprene tear. Fear not, as the guys at Korduroy.tv show you how…
Our Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) are our front line of communication with Patagonia fanatics far and wide. The crew here at our Call Center in Reno, NV are at it seven days a week, taking orders, helping with returns, and most importantly, answering the astonishing range of questions our customers fire at us. Like flocks…
I used to teach some classes at the local university. Feeling a little smarmy one-day, I assigned one group a research project, the topic: Thanks to the Duct Tape Creations crew for a great surprise, and thanks for keeping things simple, fun, and positive. [A custom parking place for our spare simoleons. This gem is…
