I love when brands get serious about their archives. Levis has had a professional archivist since 1989, but Patagonia (to be fair, a much younger company) only recently established a gear archive. For Outside, Brad Rassler visited the facility and relates some of the stories behind them. Founder Yvon Chouinard saw clothing initially as a way to support his climbing hardware business. Following its start in the early 70s, Patagonia would come to dominate the burgeoning outdoor clothing market, becoming the choice of actual mountaineers, granola-oriented hipsters, hikerdelic preps, farmer’s market moms, and normcore enthusiasts.
I especially love the rugby shirt, and I’m always on the lookout for good vintage rugbys for that “Heavy Duty Ivy” vibe.
