This article is about the company. For the book, see The North Face (novel). For other uses, see North face (disambiguation). The North Face, Inc. is an American outdoor product company specializing in outerwear, fleece, coats, shirts, footwear, and equipment such as backpacks, tents, and sleeping bags. Its clothing and equipment lines are catered towards college students, climbers, mountaineers, skiers, snowboarders, hikers, and endurance athletes. The company sponsors professional athletes from the worlds of running, climbing, skiing and snowboarding. The North Face store on Bloor Street, Toronto, Canada The North Face, Inc. Clothing (tops) The North Face began as a San Francisco-based climbing equipment retail store, founded in 1966 by Douglas Tompkins and his then-wife, Susie Tompkins.[1] It was acquired two years later by Kenneth "Hap" Klopp.[3] The north face of a mountain in the northern hemisphere is generally the coldest, iciest and most formidable route to climb.

For a time, the store offered only highly selective merchandise, targeted to climbers and backpackers. plies hoodieBy the 1980s, skiwear was added, followed by camping equipment.ipa hoodies The North Face is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the VF Corporation.hoodie navi 2014[5] It is headquartered in Alameda, California, co-located with its corporate sibling, JanSport.under armour hoodies with thumb holes[6] In 2007, JanSport was the world's largest backpack manufacturer; north face women's durango hoodiecombined, the two manufactured nearly half of all small backpacks sold in the United States.assassin's creed conner kenway hoodie

Participating in an Eco-fair in New Yorkcolumbia upf hoodie The North Face's quarter-circle logo, produced by California designer David Alcorn in 1971, evokes Half Dome, a massive granitic monolith in Yosemite National Park.[4] The North Face maintains strong links with the outdoor community through sponsoring athletes, including Lizzy Hawker, winner of the Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc in 2005, 2008 and 2010. North Face attire has grown in popularity.[8] The rise in the popularity of the North Face attire has resulted in wearers of the line becoming the targets of robbery. In early 2005, a group of teenagers from Washington D.C. were arrested on charges including the armed robbery of, specifically, The North Face jackets from students on the street. In December 2008, The North Face filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri against The South Butt, its creator James A. Winkelmann, Jr., and a company which handled the firm's marketing and manufacturing.

In the legal action, The North Face alleged trademark infringement and sought injunctive relief.[10] After the court ordered mediation in the case, the parties reached a closed settlement agreement on April 1, 2010;[11] however, in October 2012, Winkelmann admitted in court that he and his father violated the settlement agreement with The North Face and agreed to pay $65,000, an amount that will be reduced by $1,000 for every month of compliance. The North Face hiking shoe. In addition to selling through department stores and outdoor retailers, The North Face operates over 55 retail and 20 outlet locations in the United States, 4 retail and 2 outlet locations in Canada,[13] 19 locations in the United Kingdom[14] and many others worldwide. ^ a b c ^ VF Corporation – VF in the News ^ "The North Face Stores in the UK"To some, we’ve been part of your lives for decades – since the Grateful Dead played our opening night in ‘66 or Scot Schmidt transported us into the era of extreme skiing in the 80’s.

we’ve only just met. To all, new and old, novice and expert, we believe we are more than a collection of fabrics and zippers. global movement that celebrates, encourages and enables exploration. We know it is more than putting one foot in front of the other. Exploration transforms the soul. It is social, creative andIt happens on the rock or the street. inspire you to explore. This year we turn 50. To understand who we are today, first look toDoug Tompkins believed that to feed your soul, you mustSo he co-founded The North Face to prepare both those taking their “first halting steps toward a new enjoyment of the[and] to others, of more experience, The North Face will perhaps present the logical culmination of years of searching for the finest in alpine equipment.” From our infancy as a single store front, to our rise as a global year-round brand, we’ve remained focused on practicality and the spirit of adventure with a single mission in mind – get outside and

We’re an out of bounds brand. We have no foul lines or end zones. Whether through gear, expeditions or access, we have enabled generations of explorers to connect with the outdoors. The passion for exploring and dedication to preservation that our leaders poured into a small thriving business remains the bedrock of our company’s culture today. After all these years, we still call the Bay Area of California ourWe’re in the center of everything that we love – we can hike in Marin, climb in Yosemite, ski in Tahoe, and run by the Pacific Ocean – all within minutes to a few hours of our headquarters. We are also at the center of technological innovation and have been the privy witness to decades of societal change. This environment and these experiences become part of all that we create and stand for. To ensure we continue to have places to explore, we believe it is our fundamental responsibility to preserve the outdoors.

investing in conservation to making our products and processes sustainable, we are committed to the highest level of environmentalWe cannot do this alone. We partner with hundreds of organizations whose vision matches our own, motivating explorers to become stewards of our natural world. We also need the help of theIf a child falls in love with the outdoors today, nature has gained a guardian for decades. As we look forward, we will stay focused on our ultimate promise: to equip you to push your limits and feed your soul.   the next 50 years and beyond is to inspire people to live a life of exploration. Todd Spaletto, President, The North Face We are named for the coldest, most unforgiving side of a mountain. We have helped explorers reach the most unfathomable heights of theBut The North Face® legend begins, ironically, on a beach. More precisely, San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, at an altitude of only 150 feet above sea level.

It was here in 1966 that two hiking enthusiasts resolved to follow their passions and founded a small mountaineering retail store. From the beginning, the brand committed to serving all those who desired to explore and to serving our natural wild lands by helping to conserve them. At our core, we believe exploration creates an indelible bond with the outdoors, inspiring people to protect our land and pass these beliefs down to Soon thereafter, that little shop became known as The North Face, a retailer of high-performance climbing and backpacking equipment. 1968, The North Face moved to the other side of San Francisco Bay, to the unbridled possibilities of the Berkeley area, and began designing and manufacturing its own brand of technical mountaineering apparel Through the 1960s, The North Face brand cherished a following amongst avid outdoor athletes and began sponsoring expeditions to some of the most far-flung, still largely untouched corners of the globe.

This launched a proud tradition which continues in full force today and constantly reinforces The North Face mantra, Never Stop Exploring™. By the early 1980s, The North Face was taking exploration to the outer limits of the ski world, adding extreme skiwear to the productThese were the days of pastels, neons, hair dye, andthey laid the groundwork for today's free-spirited snowsportsBy the end of the decade, The North Face became the only supplier in the United States to offer a comprehensive collection of high-performance outerwear, skiwear, sleeping bags, packs and The 1990s ushered in an era during which The North Face further broadened the outdoor world it helps athletes to explore. saw our debut in the sportswear market with the launch of Tekware™, an innovative collection designed to provide rock climbers, backpackers, hikers, trail runners, and outdoor enthusiasts with the ultimate fitThe North Face half dome logo began to appear with

greater regularity on ultramarathon courses, high-country trails, andAnd, as the calendar clicked toward a new millennium, The North Face launched its own line of trekking and trail-running shoes to ultimately address the head-to-toe needs of those always striving for the next horizon. While the brand continued to shape the outdoor market through product, expedition and athlete achievements, it launched two game changing product lines – Thermoball and Fuseform. introduced synthetic insulation mimicking the capability of down. Fuseform revolutionized the manufacturing space as it changed the way technical apparel is produced. Now, more than 50 years after its humble grand opening, The North Face delivers an extensive line of performance apparel, equipment, andWe push the boundaries of innovation so that you can push the boundaries of exploration. We remain deeply proud to be the first choice of the world's most accomplished climbers, mountaineers,