The North Face Purple Label Is Loosening Up
Writing about The North Face Purple Label is practically routine for me. Looking at TNFPL's Spring/Summer 2025 collection lookbook, I'm reminded of how much I've changed in comparison to the Japanese brand.
I've probably covered a dozen TNFPL collections in my day, not including various product one-offs, and the Goldwin-owned imprint is remarkably reliable amidst an otherwise turbulent industry.
Even as broader tastes ebb and the state of The North Face's medium fluctuates, The North Face Purple Label is remains contentedly, almost defiantly in its lane, turning out quietly cool broadcloath cotton shirts, denim climbing pants, and 60/40 parkas in the name of "Mountain Ivy."
Not that there isn't any evolution at hand, to be clear.
For SS25, for instance, TNFPL's signature items are slightly loosening up, perhaps to better complement the recent stylistic shift at designer Eiichiro Homma's other brand, nanamica.
Coats are still retro technical, cut from water-resistant fabrics and laden with old-school snap buttons and yoke seaming, but now resolutely reach below the waist. Shirts and sweaters are styled to be oversized, their shoulders dropped in defiance of rigid prep norms. Trousers, especially new camouflage cargo pants and chino cloth shorts, are extra wide and a bit long.
It's all in service of better reflecting that excellently slouchy throwback look that The North Face Purple Label has sought to achieve since its inception.
No-brainer perfection, an imminently easy but stylish wardrobe, one so covetable that people are still asking how to purchase it on TNFPL's Instagram page.
There's an easy answer, one that I've supplied before: Find a Japanese TNFPL stockist — not hard since TNFPL is only available domestically — and simply use a proxy service like WorldShopping or ZenMarket to purchase. I recommend DeepInside, ReggieShop, ArkNets, and Digital Mountain but there are loads of others.
