The Best (& Rarest) North Face Collab of All Time Returns to Go Off-Road
The North Face and HYKE are the best in the biz. Seriously, the Japanese label's TNF collaborations are, in my humble opinion, the best things to ever bear North Face branding. And they just keep coming, with the pair's Spring/Summer 2025 collection as good as ever.
There are too many product drops in the world to justify the amount of hyperbolic writing slung about any ol' new thing. But The North Face and HYKE deserve it all.
HYKE, which has been around for over a decade, earned its devoted Japanese following by quietly turning out sublime womenswear of the minimalist luxe variety.
Unlike its many quietly opulent peers, though, HYKE partners its crisply ruched dresses and sliced wool blazers with remarkably authentic — if smartly updated — militaria.
Pertex overcoats, bombers cut like bolero jackets, fleece zip-ups extended down to the knees: This is impressively nerdy stuff. The husband and wife team behind HYKE ran a military vintage store prior to launching their label, so this is not empty appropriation.
This background gave HYKE an edge in its The North Face collaborations, which initially lasted only a year or so from Spring/Summer 2018 to 2019. But the collections were so strong that the final few actually enjoyed a modest international release to satisfy popular demand. The hype remains and, so, HYKE and TNF reunited in 2024.
You only need look at the collabs to understand their greatness.
Available exclusively in beige and black, HYKE's TNF gear is all clean lines and uncomplicated cool. Classic TNF technical jackets and pullovers stripped of any extraneous accoutrement, the only extant accent being white branding. These were comprehensive affairs, too, extending to socks, sneakers, and, in one case, a giant dome tent.
But HYKE has gently turned away from trek-inclined TNF, shifting into running gear beginning with the duo's Fall/Winter 2024 collection. Their Spring/Summer 2025 offering, revealed during HYKE's seasonal runway show last year, jams on that note and looks all the better for it.
It's exclusive to Japan come February 19 and it's still good stuff, even if the shoes are less great than prior outings. But you can tell from the subtly paneled tonal jackets that this is masterful stuff. Like I said earlier, HYKE brings the best out of TNF, every time.
