FASHION REVOLUTION

Patagonia are known as a truly transparent brand, after a mishap only four years ago in 2011 they have made it their mission to be 100% transparent. As a company they have committed to corporate responsibility and also agree to abide by international labor and human rights standards. 

Patagonia carry out many checks throughout the year to ensure their factories are promoting fair labour conditions and rights. They also spend months at a time building relationships with the workers themselves to ensure they are happy in their work and that the mills and factories are producing the highest quality supplies whilst reducing their environmental and social impact. ‘When considering new factories, or evaluating current ones, we take a fourfold vetting approach—one that includes social and environmental practices equally with quality standards and business requirements like financial stability, adequate capacity and fair pricing.’ - Patagonia.com

After 2011, Patagonia have a disclosure statement indicating how they monitor their factories for forced labour, including trafficking and slavery. In 2012 they hired three specialist Corporate Social Responsibility Field Managers in Asia to monitor the supply chain closely. 

Patagonia believe that their nearly two thousand direct employees are ‘paid fairly and enjoy good benefits including generous health care, subsidised child care (in Ventura and Reno), flexible work schedules and paid time off for environmental internships.’ Patagonia look after their employees as their employees share the same interests and values, employee turnover in very low (single digits) even though they receive hundreds of CV’s each month.