A Call To Activism For Outdoor Apparel Makers

There has been much ado over the past few months about the declarations of fashion designers regarding the current administration, but they are not the only members of the fashion world who have been politicized by the actions of President Trump. The outdoor apparel sector is also stepping into the spotlight. On Thursday thousands of members of the outdoor recreation industry in Salt Lake City for the Outdoor Retailer trade show will “pour out of the Salt Palace and march to the Capitol building in celebration and appreciation of public lands,” in the words of one of the rally’s organizers, Peter Metcalf, the founder and a former chief executive of Black Diamond Equipment. The crowd may not match the hordes that made the Women’s March in January so powerful, but it will be a singular event. That is because it involves not just the specialized brands beloved by outdoor recreation enthusiasts, but also those with names that resonate throughout the general population: REI, the North Face and Adidas Outdoor. Spurred by the actions of Patagonia, a company with a history of vocally tying its morals to its bottom line, they are publicly putting their positions where their polypropylene pants are. Read more at The New York Times.