Don’t Be Fooled by the Floral Whimsy of Cecilie Bahnsen x The North Face
Our introduction to the Cecilie Bahnsen x The North Face collaboration possibly didn’t do it justice.
Walking down the runway at Paris Fashion Week, it was easy to see the flowery detailing imbued into the designs or the technical taped seams holding it together, but it was difficult to imagine it outside, in the environment it was designed for.
I mean, it only takes a first glance to appreciate the brilliant novelty of a voluminous black dress crafted from The North Face’s signature technical materials. But it's harder to decipher whether it can really perform on the side of a mountain.
By taking her The North Face creations on a short trip outside of Paris to the Forest of Fontainebleau, Cecilie Bahnsen puts the performance of her new collaboration on full display.
The North Face athletes Solenne Piret, Brooke Raboutou, and Molly Thompson-Smith, the same trio that modelled the collection in Cecilie Bahnsen’s SS25 show, have tested the collection in the great outdoors. Even taking the aforementioned dress on a climb.
This is a more natural environment for the 7-piece collection. For all its hyper-femininity, couture-inspired detailing, and 3D floral appliqués, it is still crafted from performance fabrics paired with best-in-class technical finishes.
In the collection, the flowery boots have a grippy Vibram sole, that flowing scallop-edged jacket is fully weatherproof, and the duffle bag has more pockets, handles, and webbed straps than you’ll ever find use for.
"The collaboration showcased how femininity and performance can crossover and look strong and beautiful at the same time," Molly Thompson-Smith, a British climbing champion and Olympian, previously told Highsnobiety. "I loved wearing pieces where the function and performance element was still a priority, but with a more experimental and fashionable twist."
Part of a bigger partnership between The North Face and Cecilie Bahnsen (the second part of which was just presented at Paris Fashion Week), their first collection launches on March 13 via the Highsnobiety Shop.
Following the creation of many collaborative flowery technical sneakers, Cecilie Bahnsen's outdoor clothing is now in full bloom.
