Patagonia, here to save the planet – Tenue de Nîmes

"Why Patagonia?" customers asked our sales assistants these past few seasons. Although not the most obvious choice, our clientele appeared to be pleasantly surprised when we introduced the famous outdoor & lifestyle brand to our stores 3 years ago. Fashion brands have been reviving outerwear for quite a while now, but not every designer knows how to capture the spirit the way Patagonia does: with heart and soul.

"We're in business to save our home planet" - Yvon Chouinard

Quality over quantity

Sportswear-inspired clothes have become a staple in every fashionista’s wardrobe. We at Tenue de Nîmes want to bring you just that, with the added durable & sustainable bonus. So: that’s why we choose Patagonia. 

Tenue de Nîmes’ mission is to bring back the classic blue store: a place where anyone can find a pair of well-made jeans.

We aspire to be a heaven for those who value quality over quantity, a place where you always feel welcome. One of our customer service guidelines is that all store-bought items can be returned and mended by our in-house tailor, and we offer a lifetime guarantee of free repairs on all items by our own brand Tenue.

Photo by Jimmy Chin

Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, embodies the Tenue de Nîmes spirit too: don't throw it out because it's broken; get it fixed instead. Patagonia encourages companies to take responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, employees, communities and the environment; from supplier to retailer and consumer. Patagonia items are made under safe working conditions, and fair labour practices throughout the entire supply chain are guaranteed. 
This way, Patagonia as supplier, Tenue de Nîmes as retailer and you as customer, can go to to bed at night with a clear conscience.

Organic cotton

Ever since 1996, all of Patagonia’s cotton has been 100% organic. Originally, the brand found that there simply wasn't enough organic cotton commercially available. They then had to locate the few farmers around the world who were still practising sustainable methods of farming: from spinners to certifiers, all needed to be contacted and won over so the clean and organic fiber could be traced back to the bale.

Capturing carbon in a cotton field in India. Photo by Tim Davis

Tenue de Nîmes x Patagonia

So here we are: Autumn 2019, Tenue de Nîmes and Patagonia join forces in our brick & mortar store at Haarlemmerstraat 92-94, with Patagonia dedicated Shop-in-Shop. What are we telling our customers? That all of Patagonia’s waterproof outerwear shells are 100% Recycled and 100% Fair Trade Certified.

The Patagonia spirit

Yvon Chouinard is now almost 80 years old and is no longer CEO of Patagonia, but his ideas still echo through the corridors of Patagonia’s headquarters in California. Yvon, often dressed in the same flannel shirt as twenty years ago, is a simple man. He’s good at doing business and enjoys the little things.  

Let’s embrace Yvon Chouinard’s spirit and save the planet little by little.