In the summer of 2019, an executive at Patagonia got a phone call from a trusted auditor working in China. A planned trip to visit some cotton farms in the region of Xinjiang wasn¡¯t going to happen. Soon other barriers were thrown up. Information from suppliers in the region ran dry.
¡°We saw this escalation of secrecy,¡± said Matt Dwyer, the Patagonia executive who oversees the privately held outdoor apparel maker¡¯s supply chains. He spent a year trying to figure out what was going on as media reports detailed widespread repression and forced labor of Uyghur people in Xinjiang.
¡°When you peel the onion, it starts to reek pretty quick,¡± Dwyer said. By July 2020, Patagonia had decided to break the two-decades-long ties with its Chinese partners and build relationships with new cotton farmers, ginneries and spinners in other countries.
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