Repair is a Radical Act Let’s all become radical environmentalists. This sounds like a big leap — but it’s not. All you need is a sewing kit and a set of repair instructions. As individual consumers, the single best thing we can do for the planet is to keep our stuff in use longer. This simple act of extending the life of our garments through proper care and repair reduces the need to buy more over time — thereby avoiding the CO2 emissions, waste output and water usage required to Why is build it. repair such a radical act? Fixing something we might otherwise throw away is almost inconceivable to many in the heyday of fast fashion and rapidly advancing technology, but the impact is enormous. I tell you this as CEO of a clothing company that, despite a deep commitment to responsible manufacturing, still takes more from the earth than it returns. We live in a culture where replacement is king. We do routinely fix big-ticket items, like cars
and washing machines, but primarily it’s easier and cheaper to go buy something new. There are other reasons to avoid repair, including labels warning that repairing a product on your own will void the warranty, or the lack of access to the information and parts necessary to repair something ourselves. These conditions create a society of product-consumers, not owners. And there’s a difference. Owners are empowered to take responsibility for their purchases — from proper cleaning to repairing, reusing and sharing. Consumers take, make, dispose and repeat — a pattern that is driving us towards ecological bankruptcy. To be clear, the act of buying itself isn’t the problem (although it’s hard not to see the
“Let’s behave like owners, not consumers” 2
Photo: AMY KUMLER
By Rose Marcario, Patagonia CEO 25th November, 2015.
craziness around our biggest shopping days has gone too far). After all, our lives depend on a wide variety of products produced in a way that hurts the planet — including Patagonia’s — and that’s not likely to end anytime soon, no matter how much work we do to reduce our impact. What’s the antidote? Making a dent in our collective consumption footprint will require shared responsibility
between companies that make things and customers who buy them — but businesses must act independently. At Patagonia, we work hard to make high–quality, responsibly sourced clothing that lasts for years and can be repaired — and we guarantee it for life. We operate the largest garment repair facility in North America (we’ll do more than 40,000 individual repairs this year) and we’ve trained our retail staff to handle the simple repair jobs (which total thousands more). This holiday season, we’ve partnered with iFixit to publish more than 40 free repair guides for Patagonia products on our website. We go to great lengths to provide our customers with opportunities to fix their gear themselves, find it a new home or recycle it if necessary.
stuff that breaks and must be replaced quickly. Customers conditioned to seeking out the best price buy into this model and keep the cycle going. And too often, products come without repair instructions — and in extreme cases companies actively thwart repairs by inventing new kinds of proprietary screws and other nonsense. This should be considered unacceptable given the environmental crisis we face — but instead, planned obsolescence is celebrated as smart marketing. As we see greater impacts from climate change every year and as we approach critically global climate policy talks next month in Paris, we as individuals
must reverse our current course of overconsumption. Let’s behave like owners, not consumers, and repair rather than inflict something new on the planet if we don’t truly need it. And as businesses, we have a responsibility to make higher quality products to help reclaim the act of ownership: make parts accessible and repair easy. Let’s always celebrate the effort of trying to fix something. We need to enable our customers to become owners — and that will require a seismic shift in our approach. It’s a radical thought, but change can start with just a needle and thread.
“we work hard to make high–quality, responsibly sourced clothing that lasts for years” As part of the transaction, we ask our customers to use the tools we provide to decrease the environmental impact of their stuff over time by repairing it, finding ways to reuse it, recycling it when it’s truly ready. By buying only what they need, customers can reduce their overall consumption in the long run. A purchase becomes an investment that saves money — and helps save the planet — over time. Photo: JEFF JOHNSON
But this is far from a trend. While some companies, like Ricoh, DeWalt, Caterpillar and Lenovo have made repair and remanufacturing a staple of their business model, most companies still make cheap 3
Worn Wear
We all have our favourite pieces of well worn gear. They accumulate character and meaning and, over time, become far greater than the sum of their threads. Keeping these things in use for longer brings us happiness and our planet good health. To help you keep your clothing in use for longer we are taking our Patagonia Worn Wear repair team on the road. The tour will take in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands and Spain from April to May 2016 on a 50-stop, five-week adventure. The Worn Wear team will be doing free clothing repairs and teaching you how to fix your gear. All you need to do is bring us your clothing that’s in need of a fix. You can also make use of our tools, supplies and expertise to fix broken gear yourself. By keeping your clothing in use just nine additional months, you
Photo: DONNIE HEDDEN
Hits the Road
can reduce the related carbon, waste and water footprint by an estimated 30 percent. Put simply, IF IT’S BROKE, FIX IT!
Learn more about the Worn Wear European tour dates at patagonia.com/euro/worn-wear 7
Photo: DONNIE HEDDEN
Nano-Air速 Hoody Worn during the Fitz Roy Traverse, El Chalten, Argentina.
10
Photo: MIKEY SCHAEFER
Tommy Caldwell
I wore this jacket probably 200 days in the mountains. I took it on some of my biggest climbs I’ve ever done. This jacket was with me the whole time. I love to keep clothes for a long time because they become more valuable the more experiences they’ve been on. Tommy Caldwell
11
Leashless Jacket Worn during the first ascent of the North Ridge of The Citadel. Neacola Range, Alaska. 12
Photo: AL LEE © Posing Productions 2016.
Matt Helliker
“I needed a dependable jacket for slow and technical as well as fast and light so with a mixed forecast this hardshell was the best option for me....” Matt Helliker
13
Organic Cotton Boxers Worn in Greenland, Baffin Island, Patagonia, Venezuela, China, Yosemite and during some Arctic swims. 14
Photo: BENJAMIN DITTO
Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll
Nice comfortable organic cotton boxer shorts to have the furniture shop feel nice and free. The bright colours remind me of sunny beaches and keep me nice and warm while swimming between the icebergs. I also do a lot of cycling, and eventually the ass wore out… luckily I have my trusty roofing tape to fix it… Maybe it’s ironic that I used roofing tape to fix the bottom… I also did some sewing on the crotch…. thinking it would be more comfortable on the furniture shop. I’m not a good sewer so I sewed the shit out of it. They are still one of my favourite boxers. And if I had an opportunity to impress a nice girl, then that’s the boxer short I would wear… I reckon I would find out fast if she’s made of the right stuff. Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll 15
DAS Parka Worn during the first ascent of the ‘Cartwright Connection’ on the north buttress of Mount Hunter, Alaska. 16
Photo: MATT HELLIKER
Summary: 6 days, 38 pitches of climbing, 2 times the portaledge collapsed, 1 near miss with a snow mushroom, 2 happy climbers. Route named in memory of my good friend Jules Cartwright. Jon Bracey
17
Storm Jacket Worn for shaping and sanding boards.
18
Photo: CHRIS McCLEAN
Tom Doidge-Harrison
My original Storm Jacket is eight years old and I have used it for shaping and sanding boards for the last five years which is about 300 boards. It’s hanging in there but could do with new cuff straps to see it through the next five. Tom Doidge-Harrison
19
Patagonia Repair & Care Guides As individual consumers, the single best thing we can do for the planet is to keep our stuff in use longer. The easy-to-follow repair guides on the following pages were created in partnership with the experts at iFixit. Repairing your Patagonia gear is highly encouraged and will not void our Ironclad Guarantee. Check out a selection of 3 Patagonia Product Care Guides! Also learn : How to Access the Insides of a Patagonia Down Jacket How To Repair A Baffle On A Patagonia Down Jacket Satin Stitch a Tear in Your Shirt Repairing Patagonia Jacket with a Shaped Baffle and much more at: patagonia.com/euro/wornwear
Remove Pilling: Wool, Organic Cotton or Fleece Sweaters
1. Lay sweater flat on table.
2. Work sweater stone along the grain of sweater in one direction. Always lift stone when changing directions, brush in opposite direction. Brush until pill is removed.
22
3. Rub hand across stone to remove lint.
Adhesive Patch Down and Synthetic Jackets 1. Make sure area of application is clean and dry. Trim threads flush to tear opening and/ or edges. Don’t pull threads or feathers out.
2. On the back of the adhesive patch, draw and oval slightly larger than the hole (15mm larger all round).
3. Cut out the patch.
4. Lay the patch over the hole. Patch should extend 15mm on all sides of the hole.
5. Using a pin, carefully pull the backing away and expose the film to the fabric, ensuring that you extend the patch in all directions.
6. Slowly peel away the backing while carefully applying the patch over the tear, ensuring that there are no air bubbles.
7. Use your fingernail to work out all air, pressing down until well-adhered. Follow steps 1-3 on the back of the repair, if you have access to it. Adhesive patches adhere immediately, but are completely secure after an hour.
23
Replacing a Zipper Pull
1. Grab a new zipper pull.
2. Insert zipper pull into smaller, top hole in zipper. Pull zipper pull through smaller hole.
4. Bring zipper pull-tab through loop. Pull the zipper pull-tab snug. You’re done!
24
3. Take top end of zipper pull and insert it into the larger, lower hole in zipper. Make a loop with cord and feed rubber end through the loop. Pull the top.
25
Make it last Barbara Heinze Seamstress, Munich Patagonia - Why is it important to you to have gear that lasts? Barbara - If you have something that is very fruitful to you, it fits you, and you like it a lot, and it works well for you, then I usually want it to last as well, because I know it helps me in situations where I need it. If I am out in the mountains, or I feel comfortable in it when I wear it in the city, even daily and then I want to keep it because I like it, I love it, and I want it to last a long time. Patagonia - Do you think of that when you’re repairing clothing as well? Would you try and tweak it if you could? Make it so that the repair lasts longer? Barbara - Yes, yes. I do. I have some Patagonia garments which I customized on myself. I have older stuff, and in earlier days the women’s cuttings were very wide. And then I started changing
“if you try to repair your garment, you get much greater feeling for the worth of the garment” them on my size, so they will fit me and I love them very much the way they are. Patagonia - So you customized your own clothing to make it fit you? Barbara - Yeah, right. To make it fit on me and then they last. I have an old... “Puffball”, I think they are called? It’s a Patagonia Puffball, and I customized it, and now I wear it since five, six years. Like that. Patagonia - Is that your most special piece of equipment? Barbara - No. I think it’s a hip-bag. It’s twenty-five years old, and I fix it quite 26
often because that style was never made again by Patagonia, and I love it. It’s following me on mountains, and I have it in the city. Actually, I have it in the city because I am not the type person to carry handbag, so I really like it because it fits my purse and what I need. And I still carry it around, even in the city. Patagonia - So what came first, learning to repair clothing or learning to make clothing? Barbara - I started with learning how to make clothes. I learned to be a seamstress, and the repairing comes quite quickly with it. Because if you are a seamstress, you are always asked to
shorten pants, or trousers, or repair a zipper or whatever. So it’s been with me for a long time, repairing things. But I figured out really quickly that there are many different ways of repairing garments. You can do it very quickly and you can think about it and find good solutions. There are big differences in how you can repair items. Patagonia - Like quick repairs or repairs that would last longer? Barbara - Correct. That would even improve the garment a bit. I mean, there is a hole, and you fix it. There’s not much about it. But sometimes you see the hole is on a spot where there’s a lot of stress, on the pants, for example. And then maybe you can think about an idea how to take the stress off that point, so the repair will even last longer, because the reason why the hole is in there in the first place is solved as well.
Barbara - Yes, definitely. There are a lot of things you can easily do on your own. I definitely would encourage everybody to do it. And I would also encourage people to come to ask me if they can’t do it on their own or to ask someone to give them a hand and explain to them how to do it. I’d really like it if people started to try to repair their stuff on their own.
then you’re really happy, because your garment is worth more than before to you. It’s more individual. Patagonia - So do you think that is the most important aspect of repair? The individuality?
Patagonia - If everybody started doing that a little bit, it would stop a lot of products being wasted that don’t need to be. Correct?
Barbara - I don’t think it’s the most important aspect, it’s the second most important. The most important aspect in my opinion, is the ecological impact you have by using the piece of gear longer. I think it helps with caring for our world which is the most important aspect to me.
Barbara - Correct. Another aspect which occurs to me, if you try to repair your garment, you get much greater feeling for the worth of the garment. Because you experience how difficult it is to do the repair and how happy you are if you manage it, how proud you are if you managed to repair it. If it looks nice,
Learn more at patagonia.com/euro/wornwear
Patagonia - Why do you think it is so important to repair? To make these things last longer rather than just dispose and get something new? Barbara - I think the most important part of it is the ecological part, that it really is very important to care for our world, and not to waste things, but be aware of what you’re buying, and what you’re throwing away. So the first aspect is to keep it as long as possible and make it last as long as possible. The second point, I think, is also, if you have a garment you like a lot, and you feel very comfortable in it, and it becomes, in German we say: “Lieblingsteil”. A garment which you like to have in your cupboard because you’re happy if you wear it. Patagonia - Would you encourage other people to try and learn to repair themselves?
“it really is very important to care for our world, and not to waste too many things”
27
Stories,
good performance gear, and preferably something that’s durable, that can stand against the elements, and can stand the abuse - the use and abuse that we give it in these places.
things and
Patagonia - Do you have a couple of pieces that have gone with you everywhere? That you have a bit of trust with them, because of putting them to the test?
experiences
Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll Patagonia Ambassador Patagonia - So tell us your name and what you do. Sean - So I am Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll, and I am from Belgium. And I’m a rock climber. I climb rocks all over the world, mostly big walls in very remote, nicely isolated places. Patagonia - Why do you choose those isolated places? Sean - It’s because of the adventurous aspect. Because it’s so remote, and very few people have been there, and there’s a lot of unknown aspects about these places. That’s kind of a challenge, it’s to go to these places and explore these things. You know, just get yourself out there.
Sean - Some of the baselayers that I have. I have these baselayers that I only use for the big outings that I do, for the hardcore stuff that I am like, wow, this is going to be tough. A baselayer that keeps me warm and dries quickly. This jacket, actually, here, this jacket has been with me since 2006. Baffin Island was the first year that I used this one and it’s been on many expeditions since. Yes, Baffin Island, in 2006, so that’s ten years. Ten years? Ten years ago, imagine that! Some of these patches here, these were
Patagonia - So your gear must be important? To be able to take care of yourself properly in those remote locations? Sean - Yeah, for sure. In these places you’re completely remote and completely out there, and you get really cold. And the conditions are often very difficult and hard. It’s definitely essential, literally essential, to survival. Just to be able to protect yourself from the elements. To have proper gear and to be able to stay warm is super important in these places. Because it’s really easy to get hypothermic, and get wet, or cold, or lose your body heat. If you can’t get your body heat back, then you just get hypothermic. A lot of these places we go to, there is little chance of rescue. The closest rescue might be days away, so it’s essential to be able to protect yourself and to have good gear. It’s very important to have light weight, 28
“You know, the clothes with patches on them, it just shows that it’s had a life.” fixed by a guy that just showed up there. We were out there in the middle of nowhere, way out there. It was like three days walking, the middle of nowhere, and climbing mount Asgard. We ran into this guy who’s there on his own. Singer, Jason Singer. He’s like a pretty mythical, famous Yosemite climber, he has done some first solo ascents there. His nickname is actually ‘Singer’ because he repairs clothes, that’s kind of what he does. So they started calling him Singer, from the sewing machine thing. He just repaired these, he put on these patches there in Baffin Island, on the glacier. With a spoon. He heat up
a spoon and like ironed these patches on, these blue patches. He asked me if I wanted red patches or blue patches. I said: “No, no, give me the blue ones, so I can see the patches properly.” And he repaired them. These were repaired in Baffin Island on the glacier, at the base of Mount Asgard. So that’s kind of pretty cool. So this one has a good bit of history.
Sean - For me it’s very important to be able to have clothing that goes a long way that you can keep for a long time. I don’t really see the point in getting, you know, new stuff as soon as there’s a little tear in something. I think it’s really cool to patch it up. And I even kind of get, which is not necessarily a good thing, but I kind of get emotionally attached to a lot of my gear. I have a hard time letting go of it. You shouldn’t get so attached to it, but on the other side, I think it’s really cool to have stuff that you have done a lot of things with, and that goes a long way. I just think it’s really important that when you have something, you might as well use it until it’s completely destroyed. Absolutely. Patagonia - There’s a story of a guy who went fishing in Canada, and he had his favourite rain jacket, and he took it off and it blew off the boat. He went back a year later, fishing, at the same spot, and saw one of the local kids wearing the jacket. But he loved that jacket so much, that the new one he was wearing, he asked the kid if he could trade it back and get his own one back, and he did. And then he got his jacket back. Sean - Yeah, exactly. I get pretty attached to my stuff like that too sometimes. But sometimes you have to kind of let go. As
Photo: KEN ETZEL
Patagonia - What are your thoughts on having clothes that last you a long time and fixing them if they’re broken?
soon as there is a tear or something, I could easily get a new one, but it would be completely unnecessary. You know, the clothes with patches on them, it just shows that it’s had a life. I think people maybe sometimes are afraid to wear clothing with patches on it, or something like that, that is kind of stupid. I get a lot of gear, so obviously sometimes I will give away stuff. But, yeah, a lot of these things that I have, there’s not many people that would want it. Except I was
but there are people there who are really happy, you know. Over there, there’s people who wear clothes until they are completely destroyed. Patagonia - I mean, you have a jacket that you’ve worn around the world and has patches in it, it gives you a little pride and it’s like remembrance of where you have been. Where someone else might think it looks ugly and worn out, but you might have a different view.
“I don’t really see the point in getting, you know, new stuff as soon as there’s a little tear in something. I think it’s really cool to patch it up.” in Madagascar last summer, in Africa, and I gave away some clothing there. The people there were psyched, you know. Really happy, so happy to get a jacket or something like that, even though it was full of patches. A jacket that is full of patches that here in Europe I wouldn’t be able to give to anybody, 29
Sean - Exactly. There’s stories attached to it. So you attach your gear with stories, things and experiences you’ve had for sure.
Learn more at patagonia.com/euro/wornwear
Worn Wear Ideas
Tom Doidge-Harrison Patagonia Ambassador So, I live with my wife and two kids on a two acre plot at about 130m elevation and three miles inland from the North Atlantic coast of Liscannor bay in County Clare, Ireland. Our homestead is at a dead end and has expansive views stretching from East to West, through South, including a broad stretch of ocean with several swell indicators and at least two great point breaks. The countryside is soft and melancholic, much like the weather. The smallholding is comprised of a 200 year old cottage, which is in the process of being extended (by myself, a friend and fellow Patagonia stooge Patch Wilson), a modest timber framed and larch clad cabin, a poly-tunnel and the working area where I make surfboards for a living in a converted cow shed and
sand them in old pig pens across the yard. The remaining space is occupied with rough paddock land some of which has recently been planted with native tree saplings. The whole show is rounded off with a chuckling stream running down our boundary. The cabin is heated by this solid fuel stove, hailing from the sixties and transplanted from the bedroom in our cottage. There is an interesting repair story here; while in daily use in the cottage the door hinge split rendering the whole unit un-useable as you could no longer hang the door. I thought it would be easy to find a replacement door but the design is out of production, the company having changed hands several times since. I then assumed I would be able to commission a repair but after speaking to several stove experts nationally was informed that this was not possible and that I should clear 30
off and buy a new stove. Being fond of this unit – and mad for saving a few quid – I thought to call in on a local farm supply fabricators in a nearby village. I took the door and the spilt off piece containing the hinge and after frowning at it for a few seconds the burly weld monkey got out the right solders and gas bottles for the cast iron and fixed it on the spot. Even better – he seemed embarrassed to even ask for a tenner for his trouble. The stove – as you see it above – has been in use now for three years! I bought an ex site vehicle about six years ago and she’s now turned 20 - not too many of this vintage on Irish roads now. Plenty of non pro repairs on this beauty since to keep it on the road – I think my favourite being on the wipers. They recently jammed together during a deluge and stripped their fine teeth leaving them useless. I found that by
packing out the wiper arm join to the driven spigot with tin foil, they bind just fine. Note – the old issue Black Hole is a permanent fixture, containing surf and cold weather essentials and spares. As a producer of goods (surfboards in my case) there is an underlying sense of guilt at filling the world with yet more stuff. This can be mitigated in various ways, first and foremost by following the ‘make the best possible product causing the least environmental harm’ mantra. I am also pleased that 90% of my boards are used on the island and at least in some respect they don’t have a huge travel footprint once made. Surfing equipment can be horribly disposable though and despite making my boards to last, the odd one slips through the net. This was the last one to snap and I can still remember the power of the wave that did it – and the rider error that bought it on… However, I am not
“As a producer of goods (surfboards in my case) there is an underlying sense of guilt at filling the world with yet more stuff.” ashamed to repair boards and ride them again – in fact I learnt the trade by spending years repairing boards. This was a cracker and still is. In terms of ‘worn wear’ I have plenty of past product favourites that have been in rotation for the last five to eight years and a handful of items (mostly jackets) including my original R1 front zip top that are in need of new zips.
Learn more at patagonia.com/euro/wornwear
“I am not ashamed to repair boards and ride them again – in fact I learnt the trade by spending years repairing boards.”
31
Never in the landfill Using Patagonia’s $20 Million & Change investment fund, we’re supporting new economies that revolve around extending the life of stuff we already own. But nothing lasts forever, so we
continue to offer easy ways to recycle Patagonia products — 100% of what we make — when they finally reach the end of their useful life and can no longer be repaired.
Recycling If you own a Patagonia product that’s well beyond repair, please return it to us so we can recycle it into something new, or re-purpose what can’t yet be recycled. You can drop it off at your nearest
Patagonia retail store. Since 2005, we’ve taken back over 45 tons of clothing for recycling and made over 34 tons into new clothes. Find a store on patagonia.com/euro/worn-wear
OWL collects PATAGONIA end-of-life products or materials (customer returns, samples, third choice, etc.). OWL sorts, selects and imagines useful and unique objects while preserving each product’s own history.
34
Social Share your story #WORNWEAR #BETTERTHANNEW
@WORNWEAR
Photos: DONNIE HEDDEN
35
36