How to Make a Perfect North Face Jacket Better

All of the North Face’s best outerwear can be traced to one line of cutting-edge late-20th-century climbing gear. The Expedition System, launched in 1988, was a modular layering collection inspired by Everest expeditions that introduced the Denali fleece, Nuptse puffer, and the Himalayan Parka, all of which remain unchanged and are still the brand’s most famous outerwear pieces.

But these stalwart classics aren’t immune from a little tinkering, especially in Japan.

Due to some license-based technicalities — outdoor label Goldwin runs TNF’s Japanese business, while American conglomerate VF Corporation has the rights to the rest of the brand — many of The North Face’s greatest designs are confined to East Asia. One such example is a recent update to the Mountain Light Jacket, an Expedition System-era TNF mainstay.

One of the rugged OG mountain jacket’s defining features is two long zippers diagonally placed beneath protective panels on either side of the jacket, allowing easy access to its vast pockets. The North Face Japan’s new Chimney Wind Jacket has a similar set-up, but goes one further by having a panel of fabric curving diagonally along its full length and cleverly concealing two sets of pockets.

The Chimney Jacket’s new construction has some wide-spanning impacts.

TNF’s classic two-tone look, where the shoulders are covered in contrasting fabric, is replaced by the new pocket-obscuring panels providing a point of contrast: Dark purple against a light-blue base, black against slate grey, ivory alongside slate grey. 

This Japan-exclusive windbreaker is still recognizable as a TNF classic, but those darker-colored inserts flanking either side of the main body force it into a new where pockets follow the body’s natural form. Just like TNF Japan’s new Nuptse summer shirts or its puffed-up loafers, the Chimney Jacket isn’t a wild update on what’s available stateside, but it is a clever one. 

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