Sometimes you gotta go back to go forward. Online Ceramics brought The North Face all the way back to the '70s when the brand wasn't even a decade old, channeling retro-cool through a collection of throwback climbing-inspired clothing.
Simultaneously, The North Face is taking the opportunity to announce its new Re-Grind program, a project that epitomizes the VF Corp-owned company's eco-conscious aims.
First, though, the Online Ceramics gear.
Launching on April 29 for members of The North Face XPLR program (that's TNF's customer loyalty service) and at select The North Face stores (like TNF's 5th Ave flagship), the Online Ceramics x TNF stuff is about as organic as you could ever expect a fashion team-up to be (pun not intended).
The resulting product is clearly indebted to Online Ceramics' hippy-dippy ethos but also unmistakably TNF.
I mean, it doesn't get more obvious than a giant Half Dome logo but there's also a plethora of old school outdoor gear that practically screams vintage TNF, like the retro utility vest, climbing shorts, and mesh-lined 1986 Mountain Jacket, all available for $50 - $330.
There's also an ample supply of vintage-inspired athleisure — think boxy sweaters and sweatpants — which serves as the base for some charming graphics (hello, cute turtle).
This being an Online Ceramics Earth Day joint, TNF doubled down on the eco-conscious production for this outing; in fact, this collaboration serves as the debut of The North Face's Re-Grind platform, one of the brand's first major steps towards its goal of using only regenerative, renewable, and recycled materials by 2025.
By the end of 2022, The North Face expects to be nearly three-quarters to its goal.
Recycling fabric waste is only part of the solution to unsustainable manufacturing, of course, because there is no such thing as entirely waste-free production... yet.
