The quality of most products on the market today is Total crap. And it gets worse over time.
It is especially evident with clothing. Jackets are largely made of polyester, not wool, which is why they wear out quickly. The shoes are made of plastic, not leather, which makes them difficult to repair. Many brands intentionally design clothes so that they break down after a few wears, so you’ll come back for more.
Patagonia calls our current era the “Age of Shit,” or the “Chythropocene.” Today, the clothing company launched a new 45-minute short film on YouTube, under that name. The film explains how humans evolved from making durable clothing to making disposable clothing that is destroying the planet. It’s an important message for our moment and a rallying cry to change things.
Except for one small problem: The point of the film is to show that Patagonia clothing is well-designed and high-quality. But it’s hard to separate the film’s compelling message about overconsumption from its overall goal of convincing you that it’s a good idea to buy Patagonia products.
In many ways, the film’s message is much needed. The planet is suffocating under the weight of the massive amounts of waste pumped out by brands.
Everything is fast
It took about half a century to reach the so-called “Shitthropocene”. We first saw glimpses of product vanity at fast-fashion leaders like Zara and H&M. They have developed a business model that revolves around creating ultra-fashionable products at low prices by manufacturing them in offshore factories using cheap materials. It’s proven to work so well that almost every clothing brand — from Target to Gucci — has copied its approach. And the new wave of fast-fashion brands like Shein and Temu are creating clothes that many people will only wear once or twice.
Alex Wheeler, Patagonia’s vice president of creative, says the acceleration of fast fashion is partly what prompted the company to make this film. “In 2024, there will be a normalization of the overconsumption that happens on social media,” he says. “There is now a turbo version of fast fashion. Someone had to take responsibility for creating a counterpoint to that.
But it’s not just the fashion industry. The furniture industry is known for producing low-quality pieces that break within a year. Tech brands make electronics with an expiration date, so you have to upgrade within a few years. All of these products require resources and carbon emissions to produce. Now they’re clogging up landfills. It’s a planetary catastrophe of epic proportions.
Chitropocin
Chitropocin He deals with this issue with intelligence and humor. The book reaches back into evolutionary history and argues that the dopamine hit we get from obtaining and consuming goods helped humanity survive. But in today’s age of mass production, this is no longer a useful engine. Marketers make us believe that products are scarce or that we can get a good deal, which leads us to buy more and more. If this continues unchecked, it will lead to the destruction of the planet and our own annihilation.
“Talk about how fashion has a huge negative impact on the planet is common,” Wheeler says. “We needed to figure out how to reboot it in a way that encouraged people to think about it differently. Approaching it through the lens of how humans are biologically engineered to consume, and how humans have hacked that to turn us into hyper-consumers, was an interesting way to unravel this story.”
The film has a serious premise, but it is executed with a lot of jokes, which makes it fun to watch. This is intentional. The narrator also points out the irony of the clothing brand that sponsored the making of this film. In between making the larger argument, there are interviews with Patagonia employees who talk about the brand’s obsession with quality.
Patagonia is a beacon of sustainability in the fashion industry. Their products are well made. In the past, she has written passionately about her commitment to extending the life of clothing by creating classic designs that never go out of style. The brand also has repair services, recycling programs, and a resale site to keep items out of the landfill for as long as possible.
These are all good things, and the rest of the industry should imitate them immediately. But there’s also no escaping the fact that Patagonia contributes to clothing’s massive carbon footprint. Patagonia’s marketing is effective and the brand is growing rapidly, which means they are manufacturing more and more products. This film, although it draws attention to overconsumption, is also a way to make us consume more. As long as the products are from Patagonia.
This is something Patagonia employees constantly think about. This has been an ongoing problem. In 2011, Patagonia ran a popular ad on Black Friday that said: “Don’t buy this jacket.” It was designed to start a conversation about frenetic overconsumption, but it also led to Patagonia having a very successful holiday season when it came to sales. sales It was reported that it rose 30% after displaying the ad.
“We know there’s an internal contradiction in sending an anti-consumerist message, and then growing a brand as a result,” says Alex Luther, head of film, video and multimedia production at Patagonia. “But we also believe we can be a fulcrum, where we can help change the way people think about their behaviour, and give consumption a closer look.”
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