How The North Face Scaled the Streetwear Summit 

*Images with thanks to Getty Images.

It was also the 1980s that saw The North Face’s very first collaboration: the Apple apparel. Now one of the most sought-after collections ever, the Apple x The North Face promo material is a nostalgic blend of 80s corp marketing, collegiate yacht club fit pics, and normcore. Dad caps, popped polo collars, button-up shirts, cotton vests, and even a windsail for your sailboat were all on display as part of this collection, both The North Face and Patagonia tapped for their material and technical expertise. 

As the 1980s flowed into the early 1990s, The North Face’s lifestyle credibility really started to pick up steam. Lovingly adopted by the fledgling hip hop communities of New York and America’s East Coast, The North Face was co-opted by everyone from Wu Tang’s Method Man to Notorious B.I.G. (Method Man donned the Steep Tech coat on his first single, while Notorious rapped about stealing The North Face in ‘Dead Wrong’). 

The North Face’s cultural impact was on a steep incline, and pieces like 1992’s Nuptse Jacket became wardrobe staples (the boxy, puffy fit packed with goose down insulation and sleek ripstop outers, exemplifying the label’s mountaineering DNA.) 

It was in FW07 that The North Face hit a collaborative milestone, linking up with the streetwear leaders Supreme for an era-defining capsule. 

Now partnering for extensive collections together (the two brands have collaborated on 20-plus seasons together), the initial Supreme x The North Face capsule featured just two humble renditions of the iconic Summit Jacket. Revisiting a retro 1990s palette, the waterproof Summit Jacket featured the very first co-branding between the two labels, and established a new trajectory for The North Face beyond the US market. 

Again featuring the Summit Jacket, the second Supreme collaboration (SS08) is still regarded as one of the most coveted drops of all time, the ‘Day’ and ‘Night’ renditions of the New York Public Library continuing to fetch eye-watering resale prices over 10 years later. 

These days, The North Face have turned up the dial on their collaborative spirit to 100. Just this year, they’ve linked up with Brain Dead, Maison Margiela, Hender Scheme, Junya Watanabe, Comme des Garçons, and many more.

Collaborating with diverse brands to reach new streetwear summits again and again, The North Face continue to create some of the most sought-after capsules in existence. 

From the summit to the street, The North Face are owning all aspects of men’s fashion.