Feeling For | The Enduring Appeal of the Patagonia Fleece
By DAVID HELLQVIST
The more Patagonia remains the same, the more cool it becomes.
Patagonia — the Southern California-based sportswear brand once relegated to the world of steel pitons and bivouac sacks — has become the outdoorsy label of choice for the stylish set, with vintage versions of the classic Retro-X fleece today as likely to be worn by hipsters as they are by hippies. While Patrik Ervell and Marc Jacobs showed Patagonia-inspired jackets and sweatshirts in their fall collections, the trend seems to have originated with the Japanese, who have recently revived other earthy items like Tevas and Birkenstocks — accessorized, of course, with ragg wool socks. “It’s a style that becomes shorthand for a certain kind of lifestyle,” Ervell says about the durable fleece, which he argues is as archetypal a garment as the biker jacket or the trench. “Simple and utilitarian: it’s a very California ethos.”
