The North Face's Outdoor for the City

The North Face has unveiled its Urban Exploration FW26 collection. Themed "Urban exploration, explore your own way," the campaign proposes lifestyles in different cities through nine explorers, including photographers, musicians, climbers, and stylists. It's defined by functional materials such as GORE-TEX, Pertex, and CORDURA, combined with architectural silhouettes and layering.

Extending technology developed for mountain activities into everyday wear for the city: based on this direction, Urban Exploration has built another territory for The North Face.

1966: A Brand That Began in the Mountains

The North Face was founded in 1966 by Douglas Tompkins and Susie Tompkins in San Francisco. Starting out as a store selling high-performance outdoor equipment, it went on to develop apparel and gear for expeditions and climbing.

Later, products developed around functionality, such as the Nuptse down jacket and GORE-TEX jackets, began drawing attention in street fashion and popular culture. As outdoor products moved beyond their original environments to become part of everyday style, the technical expertise the brand had built up was able to connect with new markets.

2017: A Separate Line for the City

Urban Exploration is The North Face's line that adapts its outdoor technology to urban lifestyles. After introducing a dedicated store in Asia in 2016, it expanded operations in earnest in 2017. In its early days, it rolled out primarily in Shanghai and Hong Kong, combining functional materials with urban design.

Rather than treating the mountains and the city as separate environments, the key is proposing products that can be used in both. While maintaining the functions required outdoors, such as waterproofing and insulation, it increases versatility in the city through architectural silhouettes and layering.

FW26: The City Through Nine Perspectives

This campaign introduces Urban Exploration's designs through nine explorers active in different fields. The products, too, are built around functional materials, three-dimensional construction, and layering.

The Dome Denim Hoodie Jacket worn by Hong Kong photographer Hailun Ma combines CORDURA material with an A-line silhouette. The Dome Hardshell Jacket presented by Chinese rapper FEEZY is a shell jacket made with GORE-TEX, featuring a design that takes layering into account.

K-pop fashion stylist ACTOY wore the Layered Collar LW Down Jacket with a structured waterproof jacket to create a three-dimensional silhouette. The AIO Explorer Wool-Down Jacket worn by skier Zhang Lin combines functionality and tailoring through a wool-blend material and layering at the waist.

Each product shows a different style, but they share a common thread: reinterpreting functional materials through urban silhouettes. The collection is being released in phases through the official online platform and Urban Exploration concept stores, including in Hong Kong.

Translating Outdoor Technology into the Language of the City

Urban Exploration is a case of The North Face expanding the environments in which its products are used while maintaining its functional expertise. Based on functional materials such as GORE-TEX, Pertex, and CORDURA, it secures performance such as waterproofing and insulation, while broadening styling possibilities in the city through silhouettes and layering.

FW26, too, goes beyond simply highlighting new functions, making functionality visible through materials and construction. In a market where the line between outdoor and everyday wear is blurring, it's a way of connecting the brand's technical expertise to new consumption contexts.

💡 EDITORIAL SMALL TALK

Urban Exploration is a line that extends the outdoor technology The North Face has built up into urban style. FW26 continues that direction through functional materials, structured silhouettes, and styling by a diverse cast of people.

Its approach of proposing new wearing environments while maintaining existing technical expertise is worth looking at as a strategy for outdoor brands to broaden their touchpoints with the everyday wear market.