“The CSR change is easier to make when you have good margins”

As the European Marketing Director for Patagonia over 12 years, how did the brand become a C.S.R. leader? 

Nathalie Baudoin: I left Patagonia in 2001 so that is the time I can talk about. Twenty years ago, C.S.R. was not a fashionable subject like today. At Patagonia, we were zombies. In terms of products, two decisions pushed us forward. In 1992, we launched an ecological impact study of our products.

The following year, 1993, we started making our fleeces from recycled plastic bottles,...