Timberland x The North Face: Combining the Classics

The Timberland product design team have been long-time fans of the North Face. Back around 2005, they created the original “puffa boot” to pay homage to the classic Nuptse jacket, merged with the iconic Yellow Boot. While the boot didn’t gain much traction, there was some Timberland internal love – and the spirited belief that given the right opportunity, this could be a really great boot.

About 18 months ago, fashion trends started highlighting some classic elements of Timberland and the North Face. This got our teams talking. As two brands known for beating the cold weather, we knew this was the perfect time to come together and work on something that was new and different, yet familiar, to our biggest fans. And it got us talking about bringing the puffa – the original inspiration - out of the vault to create a new, collaborative version of our Classic Yellow Boots, and The North Face’s classic Nuptse jacket. So, cue the 2017 The North Face x Timberland Collaboration.

The collaboration came together by leaning on and really taking advantage of both team’s expertise. The North Face led the textile integration of the boot, while Timberland managed selecting leather – ensuring the Nuptse and leather materials would work well together. The rest of the details fell into place through lots of cross-team communication. Aka a lot of emails.

Shot by: Jonathan Mannion, Shown on: John Seymour

Both pieces – the jacket and the boot – were designed with both performance and styling in mind. It will keep you warm in the cold, but keeps the classic identity of Timberland and The North Face – a style so classic it will match with the denim that everyone already has in their closet.