US outdoor brand Patagonia has extended its line-up of Fair Trade Certified products by switching its most popular fleece styles to the programme, taking the total number of its product line that is now Fair Trade Certified to 38%.
The company, which claims to have more styles and products made in Fair Trade Certified factories than any other apparel or home goods brand, says its best-selling Better Sweater and Synchilla Snap-T lines are now Fair Trade Certified sewn.
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Since 2014, Patagonia’s participation in Fair Trade has grown rapidly. It began by making ten Fair Trade clothing styles in a single factory in the autumn of that year, and by spring 2017 it launched the world’s first full line of Fair Trade Certified board shorts and bikinis.
Patagonia full swimwear line now Fair Trade Certified
Now, the company offers 480 Fair Trade styles made in 14 different factories and earlier this year, launched a new workwear line that uses less harmful materials including a new hemp canvas, of which eight styles are manufactured in a Fair Trade Certified facility.
Patagonia hemp workwear to be made in Fair Trade facility
“Most people recognise that their clothing is made out of certain materials, but it’s important to understand that it’s also made by hands,” explains Helena Barbour, vice president of sportswear at Patagonia. “And the people who make our clothing deserve to be seen and recognised. Fair Trade is one way to achieve that goal. It’s so much more than just paying premiums to workers. It positively affects workers lives, but also affects factories, brands and customers who get to make informed choices.”
The Fair Trade programme is Patagonia’s mid-term strategy for achieving fair wages. The California-based company explains that for every product made by a Fair Trade Certified factory, businesses such as Patagonia choose to pay an additional premium that workers can use to elevate their standard of living and bridge the gap between a minimum wage and a living wage.
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By GlobalDataThe money goes into an account the workers control and a worker-elected committee votes on how to spend the money – either as a cash bonus or to pay for social, economic and environmental community projects.
More than 26,000 workers have benefited from the premiums Patagonia has paid through the Fair Trade programme, with premiums having been spent on a day care centre, health programmes, cash bonuses, market vouchers, baskets, water filters and other necessities.
