HOW TO IDENTIFY PATAGONIA
DATE PATAGONIA WITH SERIAL CODES
Patagonia began documenting their items with product codes in 1988. From the inside label (see image below) you can identify the model number to date the item and find the season and the year of release.
Additionally, from the new labels, which began in 1995, there is a three or four letter colour code. This can help you determine the exact name of your piece through a google search.
If your code is faded or the item you are identifying is pre-1986, you will need to try to identify the general era from the neck tag (see below). If you are unsure do not hesitate to contact us.
Some new labels (between 1995-1999) will also have a similar year/season code to the older labels. If you have the code S9, for example, the garment could be from 1989 or 1999. In this case you will need to recognise the difference between the old and the new tag. Old tags have no colour code so this is the easiest way of spotting the difference.
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE EXACT PRODUCT NAME (POST 2008)
How to identify the exact Patagonia piece was made easier with the The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Section 14(g) saw that items produced by brands including Patagonia were documented due to safety reasons.
The style code may be entered into this website to find the exact name for your item. This can be used as a form of Patagonia style number lookup.
Once entered, simply find the corresponding season and select ‘view’. From there a PDF document will be downloaded which will have the gender followed by the exact product name and the garment type. For example, “W’S TORRENTSHELL JKT”.
All Patagonia garments will have an RN51884 and a PO number. These numbers do not help to identify the Patagonia item. RN51884 is the code given to Patagonia as required by US law for companies that produce textiles. The PO number may be used by Patagonia for repairs.
HOW TO SPOT A FAKE PATAGONIA ITEM
To authenticate Patagonia products, a good starting point is to cross reference the style codes against a real item. Many fakes will be sloppy, and therefore the best route is to look there. Authenticating Patagonia post-2008 is simple using this method.
Type the style code into this website to find the exact name for your item as well as all relevant information therein. For items before then, we would recommend visiting Old School Outdoor Archive who has thousands of examples of real Patagonia you can reference - here.
The obvious thing beyond this is simply the quality of the item itself. Fake Patagonia is rarely made to 'replica' standard, like you might see with some brands such as Supreme. Patterns and logos are difficult for fake-vendors to reproduce.
Since we have provided examples of how legitimate tags should look above, it is worth cross referencing there. You may also notice irregular stitching on these tags. If the item is very old, it may also have loose stitching but is likely to be real. To be sure on the authenticity of any Patagonia item, we would recommend using a service like LegitGrails who specialise in Prada Sport authentication.
HOW TO IDENTIFY PATAGONIA DATES WITH NECK TAGS
Since its founding in 1973 Patagonia have consistently changed the upper hang tag every few years. This can be used to figure out the date (or the date range at least). The Patagonia label history is shown below. As explained below. These can also be a great reference if you are worried about a fake and need to legit check Patagonia.
