What does quality mean to you and to Patagonia?
Do you think that garment quality has lost its value in recent years or 🍒even decades💜?
Why is it often hard for consumers to distinguish between good 🍒and bad quality?
What role does marketing play in this?
How can we🃏, as ℱa society, overcome overconsumption?
What role does legislation pla🦂y from both a brand and consumer per🥀spective?
What are Patagonia’s ke꧅y focuses for 2025 in terms of q🐻uality?
If you🦩 had one wish f♏or the sporting goods and apparel industry, what would it be?
Wendy Savage is Senior Director of Social Impact and Transparency at Patagonia. On the social side she looks after all impacts when it comes to labor and human rights. The transparency part focuses on knowing where products come from. Her job is to ensure that everything Patagonia tells their customers about fibers and how products are m🙈ade, is backed up with relia🅰ble information.
Watch the full interview on YouTube:
Wendy: Quality for us is not just about durability, though that’s important. It’s also about the environmental and social impacts of our products. For example, we carefully consider the impact of the fibers we use. Additionally, we focus on transparency, making sure we know where our materials come from and that our partnerships with suppliers are based on openness. It takes 💛time to create such a holistic product, but the result is something that lasts a lifetime, can be repaired, and even given a second life—keeping it out of landfills.
Yes. When produc𝄹ts are designed without considering how they can be repaired or are made with fibers that have a significant environmental impact, it’s a problem. Unfortunately, this has worsened over the years. At Patagonia, we’re doubling down on our responsibility to deliver high-quality products.
We have so much information at our fingertips—sometimes too much. Consumers can start by looking at labels, certifications, and the types of fibers used. There are also organizations that rate brands based on vꦺarious standards. It’s challe𓃲nging, but as brands, we must communicate clearly and provide the information consumers need to make informed decisions.
Marketing plays a critical rol♑e, especially in education. At Patagonia, our philosophy isn’t ൲about selling more products but rather informing customers so they can decide if they even need to buy a product. For instance, on our website, we offer both new and pre-loved products to highlight the importance of quality and mindful choices. Our marketing team is incredibly creative and works hard to translate technical information about quality, environmental efforts, and social impact into stories that customers can connect with.