Known originally for climbing gear and outdoor clothing, Patagonia is now a leader in the area of sustainability practices. In this qualitative study, we examined the content of Patagonia’s blog “Stories We Wear” (SWW) that features customers’ stories about Patagonia apparel items worn and repaired to extend the product lifecycle. Patagonia encourages its customers to take part in a dialog of anti-consumption via the blog in which readers and authors of the posts can both engage with the brand and create their own sustainable identity. The overarching research question for the study was to determine the major reoccurring themes of the SWW blog posts. Five key themes identified in the blog posts were: (1) the emotional attachment to the apparel item; (2) outdoor adventure travel connecting to escapism; (3) the imagined future of the item; (4) valuing the item as an investment or the mark of a turning point in one’s life and identity; and (5) the act of repairing the item. The reasons SWW writers keep their Patagonia apparel items include quality and comfort, as well as the emotional attachment to both the apparel item and the brand. Carroll and Ahuvia’s (2006) concept of brand love is embedded in SWW stories. The repairs promote sustainability, a brand, and societal value. Customers did not discontinue purchase of new items; instead, they viewed purchases of Patagonia apparel as an investment. Through SWW, Patagonia encourages emotional attachment to its brand and promotes sustainability, while offering customers an opportunity to embrace a shared identity with the brand. The findings demonstrate that the SWW blog is a positive marketing strategy (Gopaldas, 2015) that promotes company, customer, and societal values of sustainability. The themes found in Patagonia’s SWW concept can be utilized by other companies seeking to enhance their sustainability practices and customer engagement with their products.

• Gwendolyn Michel(Iowa State University, USA)
• Meegan Feori(Iowa State University, USA)
• Mary Lynn Damhorst(Iowa State University, USA)
• Young-A Lee(Iowa State University, USA)
• Linda Niehm(Iowa State University, USA)