The Cleanest Line

On the Road Again: Notes from the Spring 2016 Worn Wear Tour

Words and photos by Donnie Hedden

I had forgotten about the highway head turns and hollars, the uncompromising loyalty to garments that are decades older than me, the vastness and variety of this continent. The chorus of Worn Wear sentiments sing: on the road again.

Editor’s note: Oregon, British Columbia and Nevada residents can still catch Delia (the repair wagon) and the Worn Wear crew at a stop near you. Check the tour dates for details.   

Above: Kern gets his kicks after a long drive. Photo: Donnie Hedden

Repair is a Radical Act

By Rose Marcario, Patagonia CEO

This holiday season, I have an early New Year’s resolution for the sake of Planet Earth: let’s all become radical environmentalists.

This sounds like a big leap—but it’s not. All you need is a sewing kit and a set of repair instructions.

As individual consumers, the single best thing we can do for the planet is to keep our stuff in use longer. This simple act of extending the life of our garments through proper care and repair reduces the need to buy more over time—thereby avoiding the CO₂ emissions, waste output and water usage required to build it.

On the Road with Worn Wear – 2015 Spring Tour Recap

Words, photos and illustration by Donnie Hedden

In the spring of 2015, Patagonia hired me to document a lively traverse across the United States—the Worn Wear tour. The story is as follows.

“What in the heck is that thing you got there?” mutters a middle age lady smoking a cigarette out back of the service station. “It’s a mobile clothing repair wagon,” I tell her. “We’re going around the country fixing folks’ clothes so they don’t have to throw away their favorite jackets.” She looks off into the distance taking in the concept, sweat beading down her forehead—summer came early in East Tennessee. “Well, if I woulda known y’all were coming,” she exclaimed, “I woulda brought down my jeans. The damn knees keep blowing out!”

She takes one last rip and puts out her cigarette. “You know, that’s a good idea you’ve got there. This country could use something like that. We buy so much crap and throw it away.” She gets to her feet. “You all travel safe and keep up the good work. I gotta get back to it.”

Worn Wear Spring 2015 Tour – Free clothing repairs and more in 15 cities across the country [Updated]

One of the most responsible things we can do as a company is to make high-quality stuff that lasts for years and can be repaired, so you don’t have to buy more of it. The Worn Wear® program celebrates the stories we wear and keeps your gear in action longer to take some of the pressure off the planet.

This spring—beginning April 4th in San Francisco—our biodiesel repair truck will travel coast-to-coast doing free clothing repairs, teaching you how to fix your own gear and selling used Patagonia clothing. Bring us your tired, well-loved clothing for repair. If you don’t have any, we’ll supply it. Fix it and you can keep it. Join us for local food and drinks and celebrate the stories we wear.

Hit the jump for the full tour schedule.

Above: Better Than New is a short film that introduces Patagonia’s new biodiesel repair wagon and pays tribute to the customers and repair techs who have kept our gear in use for over 40 years. Patagonia’s Reno Repair Department is the largest garment repair facility in the U.S.—completing about 30,000 repairs per year. Video: Dan Malloy