Patagonia, focusing on mainly high-end outdoor clothing will become one of the only outdoor gear manufacturers to offer fair trade certified clothing in its women’s range from autumn/winter 2014. Subsequently this would spread to other ranges till 2015, which will enable the company to pay a premium directly to a special workers fund for every Fair Trade Certified product Patagonia sells.
“We are empowering the people purchasing our products and this effort is part of a larger strategy to raise awareness amongst our customers on how they can make a difference in the world with their purchasing decisions.” says Cara Chacon, Director of Social and Environmental Responsibility for Patagonia. This special workers fund will allow the workers themselves to decide collectively how to spend it, based on what they deem to be their community’s greatest needs, ranging from scholarships and disaster relief funds, to medical care and transportation.