How A Vest Turned Patagonia Into A Billion-Dollar Brand

The Patagonia Better Sweater Fleece Vest is by far one of the brand’s most popular products. It’s also one of its most divisive. Over the last five years, the vest became a must-have accessory for Wall Street workers in Manhattan’s financial district to tech bros in Silicon Valley.

The company says at its height, it was fielding 60 requests for co branded vests, a day. But Patagonia, a private company that values environmental and political activism, never sought out to become the go-to status symbol for some of the biggest and richest corporations in the world.

The combination of hefty price tags and a professional-class of super fans earned it the nickname "Patagucci" prompting it to reevaluate which companies it allowed to put a moniker on the vest as a way to ensure their partners align with their progressive culture. Patagonia even discouraged consumers from partaking in Black Friday sales and snuck political messages into the tags of its clothing. Here’s how Patagonia’s anti consumption philosophy helped it build a billion dollar outdoor brand.

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How a $99 Vest Turned Patagonia into a Billion-Dollar Brand

[Joshthepurple]

I'm a working class lad from rural England and I wear Patagonia. If you're put off by tech and finance bros also wearing Patagonia, you need to revaluate why you like the brand in the first place. I buy and wear Patagonia because of the values of the brand and the progressive measures the company takes. I have nothing in common with Wall St types but I'm happy for them to give their money to a company that's going to do some good with it while making a genuine attempt to mitigate the environmental impact of consumerism.

[Blakely]

I highly recommend Patagonia. Sent in a bucket/Sun hat I wore for 6 years after it tore pretty badly. They patched it up and sent it right back to me, they’re awesome!

[ekxoskletr]

I was skeptical when I started the video, but this was exactly what I've been looking for. I'm tried of fast fashion and want a durable, sustainable alternative

[therealdavidleong]

Correction: "The uniform of finance Chads and Brads everywhere"

[nicolet]

I live near downtown SF and can confirm that you can't go 20 feet without seeing someone wearing patagonia

[colechapman]

I like Patagonia because it has a great ethos about it. It's the Subaru of clothing companies. In an industry where you have Shein and other fast fashion giants polluting and wasting the world with cheap and crappy clothing, it's nice to see a company that creates good clothing that lasts. It's also good to see a company stand by its products and even have a worn wear website for used clothing so people can buy older clothing from others. Their repair service is also really great. They are expensive, but I think they are worth it and perform very well.

[tonantzin]

Patagucci used to scream granola, now it screams tech bro

[ob]

My favorite part about Patagonia is how they supply a massive amount of cold weather clothing to the military without telling any of their yuppy customers. Almost all of the cold weather gear issued to me in the Army was Patagonia. That’s their real cash cow.

[ashtonasmr]

Love patagonia, their items are high quality and cozy. They make great Christmas presents for the fam. 🎁😍🎄

[chrisguevara]

Don Draper would be jealous of the "Don't buy this jacket ad".

[ptgn]

It isn't the vest. It is the company, Yvon Chouinard, and their environmental stance that made them a billion dollar company

[realmms]

They have excellent customer service, they fixed my 7 year old coat’s zipper :)

Edit: the coat was purchased because I live in part of the world where -20 is a thing and if I am going pay up it better be durable, long lasting and stand up company. So much so I invested in a second coat :)

[Slowhand]

Call it what you want but as a guy who has worked everyday outside for 35 years in the Northwest Patigonia make the best rain gear I have used with good environmental standards My request is ditch the fleece and go with wool to eliminate micro plastics in the water (from washing).

[TheBenjaminBrowning]

I’ve been buying Patagonia products mostly 2nd hand recently. I’m done with fast fashion! Growing older, I’m far more conscious about sustainability and environmental efforts. Patagonia have been doing this since the 70’s and are masters of marketing a sustainable lifestyle that looks really appealing and fun. Patagonia will be taking my money from now on.

[theregoesbritt]

I appreciate the Patagonia brand because they are fair trade. No slaves were used in the making of their clothes. 🙌🏻

[sunwu]

Living here 3 blocks from Patagonia HQ, the stuff is everywhere in town, as expected. Love the deals I get from friends who there.

[idrissamorehouse]

I rarely go crazy on outdoor gear but i did let myself buy a $250 sweat shirt by Patagonia and it was worth it due to the advanced usage of special performance fabrics - this news piece didnt really give just due to how they constantly innovate with technical details and innovations in textiles which im pretty sure is a huge part of their success -just like Nike -in their market they are always ahead and setting the bar higher -Mad Respect!

[highentropy]

I really hope Patagonia doesn't experience the same fall from grace as TNF. TNF sold out big time to become a fashion/high street brand.

[Jay_Mac]

This company really stands behind its products, someone I know saw an old guy walk into REI with a model that wasn’t even made anymore and they let him pick a new one of the rack for nothing. I really might get a plain better sweater for my fall and winter days in central Cali

[sbml]

As someone who works in medicine/healthcare. This is THE resident jacket. All of them wear Patagonia jackets lol. I didn’t even know it was associated with tech bros but that completely makes sense as well.