The North Face Paris Exhibit
Plus some stories from the history of TNF
The Outdoor Recreation Archive is the hub for the history of the outdoor industry. We preserve catalogs, magazines, documents, photos, and more from brands, gear innovators, and enthusiasts. This newsletter is a glimpse into our collections and the stories we find. Pull up a chair and flip through the pages of the archive with us.
The Outdoor Recreation Archive Goes to Paris!
Useless Fighters, The North Face, and the Outdoor Recreation Archive put together Genesis, an exhibit in Paris all about the history and evolution of The North Face. The exhibit kicked off with a panel discussion at the opening event with Chase Anderson (ORA) and Clint Pumphrey (ORA), Ramdane Touhami (A Young Hiker / Useless Fighters), and Alex Zabelin (Techunter).
The exhibit, featuring archival imagery from the Outdoor Recreation Archive, will be open for the next month at Words, Sounds, Colors, & Shapes in Paris, offering a peak behind the curtain of one of the iconic brands of the outdoor industry.
The Outdoor Recreation Archive participated in a panel discussion about the evolution of The North Face, which covered topics including the brand origin, culture, and innovation. We’ve included a sample of the themes and topics discussed at the event below.
Beginnings of a Brand
The North Face’s first logo appeared in Summit Magazine around 1966 and is widely different from the half dome logo which would be introduced by David Alcorn in 1971.
David was interviewed by the Outdoor Recreation Archive’s History of Gear (Highlander) podcast. Listen to the full interview below.
The North Face was originally a retail store in San Francisco selling mountaineering gear.
Doug Tompkins, a friend of Yvon Chouinard and Tom Frost, started the business with a focus on retail. The North Face was not producing it’s own products until it sold to Hap Klopp in 1968. Tompkins would go on to found Esprit and with his wife and former Patagonia CEO, Kris Tompkins, become some of the most impactful land conservationists.
TNF branding evolution Moved from San Francisco to Berkeley, influenced by the growing environmental movement in the region and in the nation. Keep in mind that the first Earth Day would be celebrated in 1970.
Jim Berryhill would design the first-ever catalog in 1966 and would never design or work in the outdoor industry again. For some, the outdoor industry is a way of life and for others, it was a job.
The first catalog from The North Face, designed by Jim Berryhill (1966)
Subculture / Counterculture + Rebellious Spirit
At the time, climbing was a niche sport/activity in the United States. It was comprised of a small group of passionate athletes and enthusiasts. TNF embraced this small group. At the time, climbing was the counterculture.
At the first store opening of The North Face, the Hells Angels were the bouncers and the Grateful Dead played. Joan Baez was also in attendance. The North Face has always been adjacent to or engaged with subcultures and broader culture, whether it was sharing a building with Creedence Clearwater Revival, or The North Face being embraced by the hip-hop community of the 1990s.
Courtesy: Suki Hill The 1976 Oval Intention tent set the tone for The North Face in terms of creating innovative and impactful products. The Oval Intention, inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic architecture and design movement, was the first of its kind in the outdoor industry. These kinds of products were designed for the mountains but also with the intention of creating more affordable shelters that could help society at large.
Buckminster Fuller visited The North Face to inspect the geodesics | The geodesics also became costumes at the Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco Bob Gillis, who lived out of a van with his family, contributed to the design of the Oval Intention but would go on to create Shelter Systems. He embodied the culture of The North Face and it’s radical approach to creating impactful products that could improve society but living in a tent for well over a decade.
Bruce Hamilton (as seen in the video above), Mark Erickson, and Bob Gillis worked together on the design and development of the Oval Intention.
The Iconic Mountain Jacket
Introduced in 1985 as “a cross between a suit of armor and a second skin.”
A focus on performance, and serving mountain athlete needs would shape the design of TNF products and the brand’s reputation. The Mountain Jacket would feature reinforced shoulders for carrying climbing rope and other gear. The reinforced panels would contribute to the now iconic color blocking of TNF product. In the 1990s, TNF sponsored the Trans-Antarctic expedition which featured athletes from various nations around the world. Each athlete received a kit with outerwear with a distinct colorway so each athlete could be identifiable in low-visibility situations. Performance has been a pillar of TNF products throughout the brand's history
Photos from the 1990 Trans-Antarctic expedition by The North Face
The Mountain Jacket would later become the foundation for TNF’s Expedition System and additional iconic products including the Nuptse would follow.
This family of products would eventually cross over into hip-hop and streetwear. TNF would soon make gear for all environments. Lei Takanashi’s piece in Ultrabuffet provides a deeper look at the impact of the Mountain Jacket.
Experience the Exhibit
The Useless Fighters x The North Face exhibit is open for the next month A Young Hiker Paris (1 rue Eugène Spuller 75003). Don’t miss this deep dive into the innovative and influential history of The North Face.
If you’re interested in learning more about The North Face, check out our recent article/interview with former TNF executive, Bill Simon!
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