[et_pb_section admin_label=”section” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#ffffff” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”on” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” background_image=”https://sgbonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/9_30_16_TNF_JacksonSquareLocation_138_Hi_Res.jpg”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off” padding_mobile=”off” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”off” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_width_percent=”100%”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_post_title admin_label=”Post Title” title=”on” meta=”on” author=”on” date=”on” categories=”off” comments=”off” featured_image=”on” featured_placement=”background” parallax_effect=”on” parallax_method=”on” text_orientation=”center” text_color=”light” text_background=”off” text_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0.59)” title_text_color=”#ffffff” title_all_caps=”off” meta_text_color=”#ffffff” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” title_font=”Crimson Text|||on|” title_font_size=”40px” module_bg_color=”rgba(255,255,255,0)” meta_font=”||on||” title_line_height=”1.1em” title_font_size_phone=”36px” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop”] [/et_pb_post_title][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#ffffff” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” padding_mobile=”off” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop”] The merging of outdoor and urban worlds is on full display at The North Face’s first Urban Exploration store in San Francisco.
The recently opened temporary shop, in the Jackson Square neighborhood, focuses exclusively on the label’s streetwear collection. A similar space will be featured within The North Face New York Flagship store opening on 5th Avenue later this month.
The stores speak to the growing trend of consumers wanting to tackle the outdoor aspects of their city lives with similar performance benefits from their technical outdoor gear. City dwellers are also looking for more urban-outdoor adventures closer to home on the weekends. Case in point, the rise of the so-called “urban adventuring” and other outdoor activities in the heart of U.S. cities.
Taken together, that embrace of the outdoor lifestyle has been marked by the popularity of brands such as Canada Goose, Arc’teryx and Fjällräven as well as The North Face in metropolitan cities. The North Face said the concept shop “will be devoted to protective gear suitable for the modern urbanite.”
The opening arrives as The North Face earlier this year reset the business around four specific consumer usage occasions, or four new business units. The four units are Mountain Sports, the brand’s heritage approach featuring its most technical gear; Mountain Culture, more of an outdoor lifestyle approach; Mountain Athletics, its training category; and Urban Exploration, which aims at the outdoorsy city resident.
On the company’s second-quarter 2016 conference call, Steve Rendle, president and COO of VF Corp., said the four business units will give The North Face leverage to reach higher price points. He added, “What you’ll also see is real thoughtful line segmentation covering those key price points in those key categories for those channel partners that we do business with across the globe.”
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off” transparent_background=”off” background_color=”#ffffff” allow_player_pause=”off” inner_shadow=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” padding_mobile=”on” make_fullwidth=”off” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” make_equal=”off” use_custom_gutter=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row” make_fullwidth=”on” use_custom_width=”off” width_unit=”on” use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”1″ padding_mobile=”on” allow_player_pause=”off” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”off” make_equal=”on” parallax_1=”off” parallax_method_1=”off” parallax_2=”off” parallax_method_2=”off” column_padding_mobile=”on” custom_padding=”0px||0px|” custom_width_px=”680px”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”tfn 1 image” src=”https://sgbonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/9_30_16_TNF_JacksonSquareLocation_129_Hi_Res-1.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [/et_pb_image][et_pb_image admin_label=”tfn 3 image” src=”https://sgbonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/9_30_16_TNF_JacksonSquareLocation_49_Hi_Res.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_image admin_label=”tfn 2 image” src=”https://sgbonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/9_30_16_TNF_JacksonSquareLocation_91_Hi_Res.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [/et_pb_image][et_pb_image admin_label=”tfn 4 image” src=”https://sgbonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/9_30_16_TNF_JacksonSquareLocation_24_Hi_Res.jpg” show_in_lightbox=”on” url_new_window=”off” use_overlay=”off” animation=”off” sticky=”off” align=”left” force_fullwidth=”off” always_center_on_mobile=”on” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section admin_label=”Section” fullwidth=”off” specialty=”off”][et_pb_row admin_label=”Row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid” custom_margin=”-35px||-35px|”]
Among the new business units, the biggest shift from the brand’s outdoor and ski roots and its classic Denali jacket is Urban Exploration. On the call, Rendle, who will take over as VF Corp.’s CEO at the close of the year, describes Urban Exploration as a merging of “what’s already a good city expression” in the U.S. and Europe, “but bringing a really interesting Asian flair coming out of Japan and China.”
The brand’s fashion reach can be most readily seen in Japan with the fashion-forward sub-brand Purple Label, first launched in 2003. Exclusive to Japan and designed by Eiichiro Homa of cult-Japanese outerwear label Nanamica, the collection continues to draw legions of fans to its bold colorways and floral-camo prints. Building on Purple Label’s success, the brand has also been partnering with Japanese menswear designer Junya Watanabe since 2006.
In Europe, The North Face earlier this year launched a similar design-first and exclusive collection, Black Label, with a like approach to Purple Label.
In the U.S., The North Face brand, along with a number of other utilitarian brands such as Carhartt, Helly Hansen and Timberland, could be seen on rappers in videos from the 90’s helping the brand establish its foothold as a staple of urban cool. The brand has also been successfully collaborating with streetwear label Supreme since 2007.
The Jackson Square store will enable The North Face to showcase its full fashion range. New merchandise will be brought into the store regularly in the coming months, including collaborations and curated pieces from the brand’s Japanese and Hong Kong collections.
Also celebrating the brand’s 50th anniversary in 2016, the shop will feature the return of some of the first packs sewn and sold at the company’s original location. Made entirely in the U.S., The North Face worked with a third-generation factory in Chicago and the Horween Leather Co., one of the oldest tanneries in the U.S., to bring back its Original Daypacks and Soft Duffel throwback bags.
The reissues are available today in “extremely limited” quantities at the San Francisco shop, but will be sold online and at the 5th Avenue location beginning October 13.
Photos courtesy The North Face
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
