The Difference Between North Face And Patagonia

Patagonia and North Face are both well-known in the outdoor clothing industry - as competitors. What many people don’t know is there’s actually a history of friendship between the founders of these two brands. So, how come they’ve chosen completely different paths when it comes to the environment?

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Script: Holly Conklin
Editor: Kirsten Stanley
Animator: Zachary Kastrukoff
Project Manager: Lurana McClure Rodríguez
Host: Levi Hildebrand

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[abelramos]

I live in Chile so I can elaborate in some topics. Doug Tompkins bought a lot of wild areas in southern Chile and started the Douglas Tompkins foundation, creating several Parks and accomplishing his conservation intents. Chilean government and industry doesn't give a crap about nature, so Doug's efforts here were really impactful. After his dead, Doug's foundation donated ALL of this wild areas to Chilean park administration, and now they are part of the Chilean National Park system officially. We are all very grateful of the conservation ideals that Tompkins pursued and thanks to him we can enjoy this beautiful places. Nice video, Levi, keep up the good work!

[thevega]

Im from Patagonia, Chile and I would like to share that I was lucky enough to meet Doug and Yvon in person while I working a couple of kilometres away from Doug’s park “Parque Patagonia”, both of them are amazing characters and funny enough they wear each other’s clothing, Doug on his Snap-t and Yvon with his Denali, lots of locals including me were pretty sad when we found out that “Uncle Doug” has passed away, but his contributions still live on and still protected, locals admire his wish to protect the land 🙌

[MMYLDZ]

I love how you straight out admitted that there would be some bias in the video. That is the kind of honesty we need in reviewers.

[emmanuelpalafox]

I work for Patagonia and when Yvonne announced the news of earth being the only shareholder it was an astounding feeling and really brings me joy working for a company who truly cares about their people and their well-being and the environment of course putting their money where their mouth is! Let’s see if other companies will follow!!!

[davidhale]

An undervalued part of Patagonia's mission is its support of small businesses doing great things for the environment. A handful of guys saw an opportunity to recycle the massive fishing nets that litter beaches and clog oceans. Bureo started out making skateboard decks and sunglass frames. Patagonia took interest and supported them. Now Bureo is making NetPlus materials for all kinds of uses, including Patagonia Baggies... The company has processed almost 6, 000, 000 pounds of discarded fishing nets.

[blancadnavarro]

I used to work for the umbrella company that owns The North Face and I can tell you that from my personal point of view, I felt like the "efforts" were simply because consumers wanted it and because competitors were doing so. It never felt genuine and they merely rode on Patagonia's coat tails with sustainability and social issues. There were real efforts by employees to make significant strides, but in the end, umbrella company seemed to care more about sales and what's "cool" aka collabs. Ultimately I left because I too, felt like my work and talents were just going towards pushing people to buy things they do not need.

[LeviHildebrandYT]

UPDATE: We recognize that the numbers we provided for revenue aren't exact, our intent was to highlight that while these two companies are fundamentally different (public vs privately owned), TNF is much larger than Patagonia is. Also, quick clarification, Monte Fitz Roy is located in El Chalten, Argentina, and sits on the border between the two countries.

It's great to see so much positive feedback on this one - stay tuned for more outdoor gear related videos in the future! 🔥👀

[beckieliu]

Patagonia actually shares where they make their clothes (more sustainably) so other brands can follow! I really admire that they are such a selfless brand ❤

[diciottottobre]

I have always had the feeling that Patagonia was actually more sustainably conscious than TNF. Now I know for sure :)

[AlasdairSun]

I love that I can get my clothes repaired by Patagonia. Their jeans are almost the only pants that I wear and I’ve had some of them repaired now three times! I also really value that they were were made sustainably both in terms of the environment and the treatment/compensation of the people who made them. I’m happy then to pay the higher cost because I know that I am getting a high quality product that can be repaired and will last many many years.

[WhatashameMaryJane]

1:17 Respect for the disclaimer. It's rare to find someone online that admits his biases. I appreciate it immensely.

[jacknickels]

Get my love of the outdoors from my grandfather, who’s a big fly fisherman. He swears by Patagonia and their active approach towards the environment, and it makes me happy to see a company that seemingly puts environmental sustainability over profit

[tjab]

Patagonia has been actively involved with conservation and re-wilding efforts throughout South America, especially in Argentina and Chile. They have donated purchased and donated large land masses to national wildlife parks in Latin America. They are helping reintroduce wildlife to parts of South America that have been exterminated out of existence. I applaud their efforts.

[dominicferguson]

I have an interview for a job opportunity at Patagonia later today, I am honestly so excited. Thank you for your information about both brands represented here, I’ve learnt so much.

[sarahb.]

Don't mind me just interacting for the algorithm

[dianethulin]

My family is from Ojai and I live in SF. I did know about this friendship. Buying Patagonia since the 1970’s. They are the best!

[DanDossTheGiantLongHairedMan]

Hey, loving the new channel! I've done a lot of research on Thompkins' conservation efforts for undergraduate research projects. Deep Ecology was an organization separate from his direct conservation projects that was intended to promote the ideas of deep Ecology around the world (they used to have a website, I can't find it anymore either). Conservation Land Trust and Conservacion Patagonica were the conservation projects. All three foundations are now the Thompkins foundation. I also think it's very important to note Kristine McDivitt Tompkins' contributions. She helped found Patagonia and was CEO for much of it's rise. She contributed massively both financially and managerially to Doug's conservation efforts. Also, Thompkins foundation has protected more like 14 million acres of land.

[luisacampos]

I find these kind of informative videos really helpful to keep updated with our consumerism’s behavior. As outdoor enthusiasts we often fall on our own trap of buying from brands and assume they care about the environment just because you know “obviously they care about nature if they’re in this kind of business “ right?
The thing is that is really important to keep our own values on track when answering questions such as the ones you propose at the end: do I need this? Is it second hand? Etc and of course forget about what social standards “drilled” into our heads about status, luxury and the concept of necessity.

[sawdustadikt]

I remember when I got into snowboarding in the mid 90s. That’s where I got exposed to really smart outer wear. Back then I got the impression that Patagonia was innovative, original and eye wateringly expensive. Tnf was doing what everyone else had been doing, several years behind. And was affordable. They reminded me of Columbia. I am now a middle age carpenter in coastal New England. After all this time, work wear companies are noticing the loss to mountain wear companies and are finally making their clothes for people who move for a living. I recently learned that Patagonia has been making carpenter styled pants out of hemp. I might just get some when my current stock starts blowing out. Hemp is supposed to be super durable. If they can make them a little stretchy by that time, I’ll pay whatever.

[itsjustKuma]

Little did you know, Patagonia would change the game completely 9 months later! In no way this video or its message has become irrelevant but just giving away the company to a new-founded non-profit and foundation would've been a huge point here. I've been a huge fan of Patagonia as a brand and supported their approach to sustainability for years now but this was just a major step unprecedented not only in fashion!