The North Face started in 1966 as a small climbing and backpacking shop in San Francisco, opened by Doug and Susie Tompkins. Sixty years later it is one of the most recognisable outdoor brands in the world, and most people wearing it will never climb anything taller than a staircase. How did that happen?

Three words

Never Stop Exploring. Exploring is a verb anyone can live up to. A mountaineer on an expedition and a student on a new route to class are doing the same thing at different scales. The line makes room for both, so the brand can belong to millions of people without losing the climbers.

Proof on the mountain

The idea holds because the brand keeps backing it with real exploration. In 1989 it sponsored the Trans-Antarctica Expedition to test its kit in extreme cold, and the same year it co-founded the Conservation Alliance to fund campaigns that protect wild places. Today its fabrics are developed with input from its athletes. The experts keep the promise honest.

Then the city took it

The Nuptse puffer arrived in 1992 and ended up a streetwear staple, followed by the Mountain Jacket and the Base Camp Duffel. Later came fashion collaborations like Junya Watanabe in 2017. The mountains are still the source. The street borrows the credibility the mountains built.

What I take from it

A brand world needs two things. One idea simple enough for everyone to step into, and proof tough enough to convince the people who know best. Get both, and the culture has something to grow around.

People come for the run and stay for each other. In 2024 running club membership on Strava grew 59%, and women joining clubs grew 89%. In 2025 the number of new clubs on the app nearly quadrupled, with running clubs up 3.5 times. People want to move together.

Why now

Gen Z is 39% more likely than Gen X to use fitness to meet people who share their interests. More than half of runners named better mental health as a main goal for 2025, and for Gen Z it was 65%. The run is the excuse. The people are the reason to come back.

Give people a reason to meet

Then let the evening continue. At DRIP that was hot class and cold drinks after, or run club and coffee. The workout opens the door, the time after it builds the habit.

Make the first time easy

Twice as many Gen Z as Gen X say starting a new sport feels intimidating. A bring-a-friend session or a no-pressure first run does more for a brand than another campaign.

Let them own it

The clubs that last feel like they belong to the people in them, with their own jokes, routes and rituals. The brand builds the place and the occasion, then hands the floor over.