Patagonia Work in Progress Report Review

What does Patagonia’s Progress Report tell us about the future of sustainability reporting in the outdoor industry?

Mention the words sustainability and outdoor industry (or even just clothing brands) and it won’t take long before someone brings up Patagonia. It’s not the only brand trying to protect the natural world, but thanks to its global fame and unapologetic activism it still holds the title of trailblazer in outdoor apparel.

I love a good Impact Report, so if you haven’t got round to reading the 154 pages of Patagonia’s report, no worries, here’s my recap with my predictions of where other outdoor brands will start following suit.

Reframing the sustainability journey

First we had ‘sustainability reports’ and then, realising how unsustainable most of what we do is, we saw a shift to ‘impact reports’. This shift opened up the narrative to be transparent about a brand’s impact and use of resources, while also recognising the positive impact a company can have.

Patagonia like to do things differently, so it’s no surprise that they’ve named their report differently. And the ‘work in progress’ narrative continues throughout the report, especially in the initial sections where they double down on the concept that, ‘we’re not perfect but we’re trying really hard’.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we see other brands embracing the ‘work in progress’ concept more in their reports. I think we’re already seeing a shift in sustainability reporting from ‘this is what we’re doing well’ to ‘this is what we’re trying to do’.

Embracing failure

For many brands, there is still this tendency and desire to talk about the good stuff, the wins, the successes. But I’d love to see more outdoor brands be open and honest about the things they tried that didn’t work, or the missed targets. I think this honesty and vulnerability can really strengthen consumer trust in a brand.

Unrealistic targets

One thing that makes me a bit uneasy about the Patagonia report, is the talk of lofty goals. In fact, they even say that when they set goals, they want them to be “aspirational (something hard, even seemingly impossible)”. I get that, it fits with their trailblazing brand personality, taking the hard route rather than the play-it-safe path of setting easy-to-achieve goals. And when it comes to climate change and the planet, we do need big goals. However, when it comes to sustainability comms and greenwashing guidelines, if you mention environmental targets, you need to show you have a clear plan about how you’re going to achieve them. And if you don’t really believe they’re possible, then it’s a bit misleading to be talking about them as goals.

So for any outdoor brands taking inspiration from Patagonia’s report, I’d say be careful when talking about targets - make sure it’s a fairly realistic target and that there is a strategy in place for achieving it.

The strength of storytelling

Patagonia loves a spot of storytelling. And I agree that storytelling is your friend when it comes to bringing sustainability to life. We can all too easily get caught up in getting the right data, the right graphs, but honest, genuine storytelling can do so much more. For brands that are fearful of inadvertently greenwashing when sharing data and facts, storytelling is a great way to share impact stories in a way that is honest, transparent while conveying the complex nuance of issues in an engaging way. I really enjoyed reading the section about cotton sourcing with personal insights from Wendy Savage, Patagonia’s director of social impact and transparency. The first-person narrative really brought the issue to life.

The enduring importance of durability

Let’s not forget how durability is key for outdoor gear, and for any clothing really. We see a lot of clothing brands talking about reclaimed or recycled materials in their clothing, but as Patagonia’s report says, a recycled fabric isn’t automatically better if it only lasts one season.

This is the real challenge for outdoor brands, but also an opportunity to lead the way for other clothing brands to follow. Once an item of clothing has been put out in the world, it needs to last as long as possible and be used as much as possible. Designing for durability is key, and not just in terms of materials but also styles need to be long-lasting.

Will we see more brands bringing the topic of durability to the forefront of their reflections on sustainability? I know outdoor brands talk about using durable materials etc. but will this be reflected more in overarching decisions about when to release new styles (and, more importantly, when to stop releasing more and more new styles?), ensuring clothing is designed to be loved for years to come, not thrown out as soon as the colourway is out of fashion?

Circularity

The other side of the durability dagger: as the report says, if we’re making clothing that is designed to last, that means any waste will linger too, and when clothing does get beyond repair, it’s often really hard to recycle. This is especially true of technical outdoor gear which is usually with mixed materials. I love the honesty that “On average 85-90% of the products we put out in the world do not have an end-of-life solution.”

Which just goes to highlight how big an issue this is, and it’s an industry-wide challenge which is why, in my view, collaboration between brands to address product circularity is key to finding solutions sooner.

The power of banking

The section ‘Finance as a Lever for Change’ talks about the impact of which bank you use. If you’re banking with certain institutions, you can effectively be financing fossil fuel extraction. For me, this was something that I learnt about when doing my carbon literacy training, and yet I haven’t seen any other brands talking about the impact of their financial relationships in their impact reporting (not saying they haven’t, but I haven’t come across it). For individuals, changing banks or pension funds to greener options is a minor faff, but once it’s done it’s done, and the impact continues. For brands with a lot more money, the impact is much bigger. So why aren’t more brands doing it? Or talking about it?

Will we see more of this? I hope so.

Conclusion

Patagonia’s Work in Progress Report signals a shift in how sustainability reporting is evolving across the outdoor industry — from polished highlight reels to more honest, transparent reflections on ongoing challenges. Rather than positioning itself as perfect, Patagonia leans into a “we’re trying” narrative, openly discussing missed targets, ambitious (sometimes uneasy) goals, and the complexities of durability and circularity in outdoor gear.

The report highlights the power of storytelling over statistics alone, reinforces that true sustainability starts with long-lasting product design, and raises rarely discussed issues such as the environmental impact of corporate banking.

Overall, it suggests that future sustainability reporting from outdoor brands may become more vulnerable, more holistic, and more collaborative — focusing less on claiming success and more on sharing progress.

Have you taken a look at the report? I’d love to know what you think.