05/25/2026
I ( Rob) was working at when Patagonia moved to OC. The price of a Patagonia t- shirt went from $25 to $50 Canadian overnight. Minimum wage was $5.50. I was a bit shocked, but then watch a video ( VHS!) of YC saying how they found a better way and have to commit. He shared something along the lines of…”Hopefully it scales and the price can come down. We would rather not sell t-shirts than use conventional cotton”. When I started working for Patagonia 13 years after the launch of the move to 100% organic cotton, the t shirts were $49…less than in 1996. Meanwhile all the competitors were the same price but most were not using OC. That is their (old and current) mission in action!