The North Face Traded Boring ol' Fleece for Fancy Italian Wool
The Denali is the The North Face fleece jacket. This fluffy thing’s done it all: it was worn during the first free ascent of arguably the most famed climbing spot, El Capitan’s Salathé Wall, and it was part of TNF’s pioneering 1988 expedition system, a series of influential gear designed for extreme mountaineering but now symbolic of how outdoor design informs everyday dress.
It’s the kind of classic design that’s quintessentially The North Face. But the Denali fleece has evolved. In fact, it’s gone beyond ordinary fleece.
The North Face’s Casentino Wool Pack strips the Denali of its typical polyester fuzz in favor of a high-pile red Casentino wool sourced from Tuscany, Italy. The upgrade is a welcome and fitting swap — after all, the wool’s bobbly texture isn’t too dissimilar from the original material — but it’s a funny turn of events when you consider the fleece’s history.
Modern fleece jackets were invented by another famed American outdoor label, Patagonia, when its founder wanted to create something more weather-resistant than his favorite wool sweater. He ended up creating the Retro-X, a soft polyester zip-up not too different from The North Face’s Denali.
But here’s The North Face doing the opposite: trading high-pile polyester for high-pile wool. Not that this is a regression, though, Casentino wool has been worn by Italy’s outdoorsmen since the 14th-century due to its natural warmth and water-resistance and the Casentino wool utilized by The North Face is similarly elegant and insulating.
That's an easy way to turn a classic cold-weather layer into a semi-luxe layering piece but it does come with an expected drawback.
TNF’s Casentino Denali jacket fetches $560, which is nearly $400 more than the Denali’s usual $180 retail price. The matching Casentino snapback and GORE-TEX trekking boots? They’re $95 and $360, respectively.
Just remember that this is priced higher than the usual TNF hiking equipment because it’s anything but the usual hiking equipment. This is luxurious Italian wool that you just so happen to be able to hike in.
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