There are plenty of outdoor brands making great gear. Patagonia goes a step further.
Welcome to our Brand Spotlight series, where we're shining a light on the brands we stock, why we chose them, and the gear we genuinely use and love ourselves.
From the beginning, Patagonia has challenged the outdoor industry to think differently. They build clothing that's designed to last for years, not seasons, encourage people to repair rather than replace, and put the planet at the heart of their business decisions.
Made For The Mountains As Well As The Streets
One thing that often surprises people is just how technical Patagonia clothing is.
Patagonia isn't just a lifestyle brand. Their clothing is trusted by climbers, hikers, skiers, paddlers and mountain guides across the world, and performs exceptionally well in New Zealand conditions. With the best versatility from the city centre to the mountains, their gear has been tested in some of the toughest conditions on the planet.
Clothing Built to Last With Free Repairs
Rarely are there issues with their gear and it lasts a long time. And if something does wear out? Patagonia's ethos is to repair not replace. Did you know that repairs are carried out right here in New Zealand? They always repair what they can to extend the life of your gear. All for free.
Yup, that's right.... free!
Protecting Wild Places Is At Their Heart
Patagonia donates 1% of sales (not profits) to environmental causes and groups through their 1% for the Planet initiative. How cool is that. They don't like to shout about it, but rather fund quietly from the backseat.
We have heard the stories of the amazing work they are doing to preserve our rivers here in New Zealand. They fund a lot of local and community-led freshwater and river protection campaigns. For example, defending stretches of river from dams, pollution, and mining.
When You Buy Patagonia With Us, They Donate to The Brook Sanctuary
They also support our environmental causes too. So what that means is when you spend $ buying Patagonia with us in store at MD Outdoors, 1% of our Patagonia sales go to our chosen charity too.
Last year, Patagonia donated $1800 to the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary - our chosen charity - helping protect one of our favourite local wild spaces.
So, that's all for now folks!
But we wanted to say, that as a small independent retailer, we work with a lot of suppliers. And working with them over the last year has been a pleasure. Mainly because we love working with organisations whose values match our own!
