Nothing Beats the Patagonia Fleece (Except the Patagonia Fleece)
Every modern fleece jacket is indebted to the Patagonia Retro-X. Miu Miu’s $2,000 perpetually sold-out oversized fleece? Palace’s trippy graphic zip-ups? That sought-after half-zip from fashionable alpine brand Rier? They all owe a stylistic debt to this one jacket, really.
Patagonia’s newest range of Retro-X fleeces appear almost identical to those original outdoor jackets, down to a throwback Patagonia logo and especially fluffy fleece. However, these jackets have some important updates. Some are obvious, like the wild patterns. Some are less so.
The jacket’s boxy fit has been tweaked, for instance. Originally modelled against Yvon Chouinard's proportions, Patagonia’s newest updated fleeces now have a looser, more relaxed shape, intelligently updated with fleece padding inside the collar to make it extra snug.
It makes sense that the fleece would be one of Patagonia's personal passions.
In the ‘70s, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard was on a mission to create a more weather-resistant alternative to his favorite wool sweater.
He cracked the code a decade later with Massachusetts fabric-maker Malden Mills (since rebranded to Polartec), with whom he created a zip-up jacket made of high-pile polyester. This first proper fleece jacket remains one of Patagonia’s most famous designs.
These days, the oft-mimicked outerwear is made entirely of recycled polyester, utilizing waste Patagonia highlights is from coastal communities at risk of plastic pollution. The environmentally conscious outdoor brand has long since distanced itself from virgin polyesters.
The end result may be mostly new but it looks almost exactly like the original. Why not? The Patagonia fleece is more influential than ever, with everyone from French luxury houses to high-street labels still riffing off its trend-skipping design. But even perfection can be improved.
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