The North Face

Sitting at the heart of VF Corporation’s Outdoor segment, The North Face is the largest and most strategically important brand in the New York-listed apparel group’s portfolio, alongside Timberland, Vans, Dickies, Eastpak, Smartwool, Napapijri, and Kipling. VF Corporation acquired The North Face in 2000, integrating the brand into its multi-banner outdoor and lifestyle portfolio strategy.

Founded in 1966 in San Francisco by Doug and Susie Tompkins as a backpacking and climbing equipment shop in the North Beach neighborhood (named after the colder, north-facing slopes of mountains that retain snow longest), The North Face evolved through the 1970s and 1980s into a defining technical mountaineering apparel brand. The signature Nuptse jacket (introduced 1992), Denali fleece (1989), Base Camp duffel bag, and the broader Summit Series and ThermoBall product lines became cultural and commercial anchors. VF Corporation reported total revenue of approximately $10.5 billion in fiscal year 2024 (ended March 30, 2024), with The North Face delivering the strongest single-brand revenue contribution in the group’s portfolio at approximately $3.7 billion. The brand’s lifestyle-and-technical positioning straddles serious mountaineering and urban-streetwear culture, with high-profile collaborations including Gucci (2020-2022), Supreme (annual collaboration since 2007), and other contemporary fashion and athletic partnerships extending brand cultural relevance. The 2021 Korean drama-driven popularity of certain North Face puffer jackets translated into significant global Gen Z adoption that the brand has continued to capitalize on. Bracken Darrell was named CEO of VF Corporation in July 2023, leading a multi-year restructuring including the sale of Supreme to EssilorLuxottica, announced in October 2024.

The North Face operates approximately 400 directly operated stores globally, with the strongest concentrations in the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and the Benelux. Distribution is supplemented by extensive wholesale placement in outdoor specialty retailers, multi-brand sportswear chains, department stores, and travel retail. For mall operators, The North Face is a Class A specialty outdoor and lifestyle anchor for regional and super-regional centers, typically taking 200 to 500 square meters in formats that combine technical outdoor merchandising with urban-lifestyle product walls. The brand’s cross-generational appeal and lifestyle-streetwear crossover make it a stronger mall traffic driver than narrower technical-only competitors.