Nineteen eighty-five was a pivotal year for the outdoor world. Warren Miller released听,听Alex Honnold was born, and Patagonia came out with the , which quickly became everybody, and everybody鈥檚 outdoorsy dad鈥檚, favorite layer.
This year, to commemorate three decades of this听brightly colored, supremely听useful听iconic fleece,听Patagonia is rolling out a . The new stuff will maintain听the low-profile silhouette, but鈥攊n line with what the company is doing across the board鈥攊t will incorporate environmentally friendly materials like organic cotton, traceable down, and recycled polyester.
“The new collection pays homage to the heritage of the Snap-T and to Patagonia鈥檚 designers who continue to improve the style, fit, materials and quality,” says听Helena Barbour,听Patagonia鈥檚 business unit director for sportswear.
There鈥檚 a thriving eBay market for the Aztec-printed Snap-Ts of the 鈥90s, and when Patagonia started their听Worn Wear program, Snap-T tales showed up more frequently than anything else.
The Snap-T's story begins with bunting, Patagonia's go-to acrylic and polyester insulator of the early '80s. Cyndi Davis, a designer who's still with the company, began messing around with alternative fabrics听in search of a material that was lighter and quicker drying that bunting or wool, says Mark Little, the global product line director for men's sportswear.听Davis and Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia's founder,听worked with Massachusetts-based Malden Mills (now Polartec), a faux-fur and upholstery fabric provider, to develop Synchilla, the nubby, polyester fabric that traps heat and doesn鈥檛 pill. Once they had the fabric dialed, they started tweaking the design, settling听on a pullover that could be snapped up into a turtleneck鈥攈ence the T.
The first versions had blocky bodies and cuffs made out of stretchy Speedo-like material. Because the designers found a study that showed people who liked purple tended to be adventurous,听there was a lot of purple. They made them zipperless to save weight听and gave them a single pocket to stash keys.听
Back in 1994, Patagonia started making fleece out of recycled plastic bottles, which changed the look of the Snap-T slightly. But this year鈥檚 update is the biggest adjustment in more than two decades.听All told, Patagonia released four new styles. There鈥檚 a lightweight down version, which uses traceable 600-fill duck down, and a quilted organic cotton version. There鈥檚 also a hooded, reclaimed wool style for guys, and a women鈥檚 model that meshes PrimaLoft Gold with fleece. Traditionalists can still get the basic variety, too.听
Nostalgia is a big part of why Patagonia is focusing on the product听again. There鈥檚 a thriving eBay market for the Aztec-printed Snap-Ts of the 鈥90s, and when Patagonia started their Worn Wear program,听which encourages people to repair their old gear and share stories about the pieces,听Snap-T tales showed up more frequently than anything else.听
There's no way to tell whether people will lust after this re-release in 30 years. But we're guessing the eBay market for the originals will always be strong.