The North Face Purple Label remains one of the single best fashion-y outdoor brands in the biz. It’s all about how creative director and nanamica founder Eiichiro Homma mixes trad inspiration with light tech and ’90s steeze, yielding seasonal collections that’re painfully, stylishly, timelessly tasteful.
For Fall/Winter 2024, The North Face Purple Label dishes another assortment of terrifically wearable stuff that’s as grounded as it is aspirational.
Here lies clothes wearable in every wardrobe, embodying the old-school flavor of classic TNF designs laden with contemporary cool.
Shame the line remains Japan-only.
Well, at least there are a few ways to remedy that, especially with all the Japanese TNFPL stockists now offering in-line proxy services.
As usual, TNFPL delivers imminently wearable iterations of The North Face staples, like mountain parkas, brushed cotton shirts and fan-favorite daypacks, styled in a campus chic manner reminiscent of the grunge era. Or at least Dawson’s Creek.
One new motif is a surge of light layers stacked on top of each other for maximum insulation. Yes, there are Nuptse-style puffer coats and windproof field jackets but the new TNFPL vibe is T-shirt + shirt + liner + jacket, with a hoodie or varsity jacket replaced to taste. As always, it’s consistently great.
Lately, though, TNFPL’s lookbooks have strayed from the simple model-against-backdrop shoots of old, giving the new goods a more lived-in feel. You can really get a feel for the unbothered ease that these clothes epitomize.
It’s funny that amidst recent years’ proliferation of young GORP-y brands, TNFPL remains distinct in its ageless design ethos.
While more brands are leaning into cutting-edge trail styling and avant silhouettes, TNFPL is still dropping throwbacks, epitomized by its school daze coaches jackets and washed-out denim climbing pants.
The North Face Japan, owned by outdoor giant Goldwin, does get a little more out-there, what with its wild footwear designs and appreciably out-there outerwear. But you can always count on TNFPL to stay grounded in the classics.