Doing things differently

Celebrated for putting the planet first, Patagonia is one of the world’s most recognised and respected brands. Alex Beasley, Regional Manager for Northern Europe, tells us why the company is so special and what’s next for it.

Patagonia as we know it has been around since 1973. Our founder, Yvon Chouinard was always curious, good with his hands, and loved rock climbing. He recognised that the contemporary climbing equipment in the market was single use and of poor quality, so he taught himself how to blacksmith from which he forged his first products.

This passion for quality gear that solved problems continued on a life changing climbing trip to Scotland. Whilst here, Yvon noticed we were wearing durable rugby shirts made of cotton, multicoloured and eye-catching, and designed with a collar, which meant you could carry the climbing equipment without it rubbing into your neck. He imported a selection of shirts, sold them in the US and made a good margin. He did it again, and the same thing happened. And that's how Patagonia started.

Responsible, value-driven and human-powered.

We don’t view ourselves as a sustainable company. The United Nations’ definition of sustainability is the ability of the current generation to meet its needs without harming the next, or future generations to meet theirs. When you think about sustainability with that definition, how can any business, country, government or person be classed as sustainable? So we’re not sustainable. We see ourselves as responsible. It’s a really useful word because it’s one that everyone can understand and relate to. It means being accountable for the things you get right and wrong.

The definition of a value is an ethical stance with a behaviour attached. Sometimes we get put on a pedestal, and we work really hard to knock that away, because it means you can’t learn. We don’t have all the answers. I chose human-powered, because we make products for the humans who love to ski, surf, climb, hike, fly fish and so on. The people going out and doing those human-powered activities.

The truth is, you don’t have to be vegan, environmentally conscious or a hardcore climber or activist to work at Patagonia, because otherwise it would be very limiting. And together you could be far too virtuous to make things happen. There has to be an understanding of outdoor sports, but the most important thing is to be curious. We’re all different at Patagonia, but that’s a value we all share. To want to improve the world, to help and to collaborate with others. I’m proud to play a small part in that. 

The John Lewis customer appreciates quality and has trust in you, and that’s what both our businesses share. One of our values is to use business to inspire and implement solutions against the climate crisis, and we hope at some point John Lewis might join 1% for the Planet, which is where we give away 1% of our global sales every year to grassroots organisations. For a retailer of John Lewis’ size and scale to do that would be incredible.

Last year we gave away $14.7 million [£11.7m] to small environmental organisations, and we have given away $240 million [£180m] since 1985. That’s how we think you create lasting change.

This is very random, but a while ago Yvon said if he was to have his time again, he wouldn’t bother trying to be an environmental company for the outdoors; he would like to redo the whole food supply chain, because that is a way to truly have a lasting impact. He’s started a company called Patagonia Provisions, which is all about responsible and ethical logistics lines. It’s currently only in the States, but we’re hoping to bring it to Europe.

We’re currently calling on the Icelandic government to ban open net salmon farms. Intensive aquaculture such as salmon farming is incredibly harmful to ecosystems due to the excessive use of antibiotics, high mortality rates, and the propensity of escaped farmed salmon to breed with the wild population, reducing the resilience of native species. That’s all before we’ve considered the human impact of consuming the produce of this industry. So, that’s what’s on the agenda – just a small project. [laughs].

Explore Patagonia online and in select John Lewis stores: Oxford Street, Peter Jones, Cambridge, Cheadle, Reading, Edinburgh, High Wycombe, Kingston, Trafford, Liverpool, Cribbs Causeway, Newcastle and Southampton