The North Face is an outdoor product manufacturing company. It specializes in jackets, fleecewear, luggage, and shoes, designed to withstand the forces of nature, and the clothing and equipment lines are catered towards climbers, mountaineers, skiers, snowboarders, and hikers. The performance wear is famous for its use on mountaineering expeditions on Mt. Everest.

The North Face line of clothing is also noted for its high cost. Its denali jacket is one of the most popular items of clothing on college campuses.

The North Face was created in 1966, in San Francisco. Douglas Tompkins decided to establish an equipment retail store, and eventually it acquired the name, "The North Face". This name was chosen because the north face of a mountain, most notably that of Mt. Everest, is generally the steepest, coldest, and most difficult to climb. By the 1980s, skiwear was added to the line of products, and eventually camping equipment was as well.

Its easily recognizable logo consists of a slightly skewered quarter-circle with two lines running within it (supposedly an interpretation of the famous Half Dome rock formation in Yosemite National Park). Adjacent to that is THE NORTH FACE embroidered in large block letters.

The North Face is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the VF Corporation. Mr. Tompkins sold the business in 1968, and he and his wife began the ESPRIT clothing brand.

External links

• The North Face website
• VF Corporation home page