Words by Axel Metz
Celebrating the spirit of adventure, haute couture meets high altitude in the new collab between two fashion heavyweights.
It was inevitable, really. After years of dominating their respective fields – that’s high fashion and, well, fields – style behemoths The North Face and Gucci have collaborated in a collection dedicated to the spirit of adventure.
Three months after the partnership was officially announced – via Instagram and TikTok, no less – we’ve been given a sneak peek at what to expect from the lovechild of Italy’s designer godfather and America’s favourite mountain gear-maker. The first drop from the collaboration is an ode to the great outdoors, set to include ready-to-wear pieces – as well as accessories and footwear – for both men and women.
Set to the jubilant melody of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising”, the new campaign video suggests the upcoming collection is as colourful as the picturesque landscapes through which it was designed to be rocked. Blush pink, blood orange and caramel prints adorn the windbreakers, quilted jackets and cosy fleeces that make up the collection, alongside goose feather-filled gilets, bomber jackets and coats. There’s also a healthy helping of the floral and abstract, courtesy of Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele and the collaborative design team between the two brands.
The collection is based on The North Face’s original designs from the 1970s, and also includes a range of t-shirts, shirts and sweatshirts, as well as backpacks, boots, and – of course – a bum bag (which you can soon expect to haunt the virtual corridors of Depop for years to come).
Perhaps the coolest piece to emerge from the collaboration is not a piece at all, but a new logo comprising The North Face’s famous iconography and Gucci’s (even more famous) green-red-green stripe. Whether you’re into the collection’s bombastic colourways or not, it’s a logo ready-made for expensive streetwear and will prove the subject of major hypebeast envy should you manage to snag yourself a piece of the action.
Given The North Face’s penchant for the natural world – you know, it’s sort of the basis of the brand – the collection is inevitably focused on sustainability. The bags have been re-created using Econyl, a nylon fabric sourced from fishing nets and scrapped carpets, while archival pieces from The North Face make up the fabric used in the new outwerwear. The packaging, too, will be made using paper sourced from sustainably-managed forests. Rest assured; high fashion doesn’t always mean high cost to the environment.
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the first time The North Face has wandered off the beaten track into hype fashion. The brand has enjoyed numerous collaborations with streetwear giant Supreme, and has seen its once-practical clothing be transformed into a staple of cool wet-weather styling. Nonetheless, it’s a label still renowned for its outerwear pedigree, and so to collaborate with a major luxury brand like Gucci marks a new direction in the way The North Face hopes to market itself in the years to come.
Naturally, it’s still unclear at this stage how much these pieces will cost. The North Face has traditionally been on the more expensive end of the spectrum when it comes to outerwear, while Gucci is, well, Gucci – so don’t expect the collection to be anything less than eye-wateringly expensive. It won’t be easy to access, either. Collaboration pieces between any brands are typically hard to come by, and this particular partnership will come at the rarest end of exclusive. In any case, the Gucci x The North Face collection is launching first in China via pop-up stores, and later on gucci.com sometime in 2021.
Good luck.