Style

The North Face is going luxury with an upcoming Gucci collab

Prepare to fork over some serious dough.

The North Face continues to take its collaborations to a higher elevation. With a Maison Margiela collab still due to arrive in stores, the outdoor apparel whizzes have announced they'll partner with Gucci on a collection that's sure to be flamboyant.

Details are still scarce, with the only confirmation coming from a series of videos posted to Gucci's Instagram account. The three clips survey lush mountain landscapes before arriving on a co-branded flag that sees Gucci's signature green and red stripes integrated into The North Face's logo. Given Gucci's propensity for lavish goods and TNF's acumen for trustworthy gear, the teasers are enough to get us excited.

What can we expect? — Logomania seems like a good start. The North Face will have Gucci's signature monogram and stripes to work with as it elevates its gear to be worthy of luxury. Functionality will certainly still be a focal point, but who's going to want to put their Gucci into battle with the elements?

The North Face's collaboration with MM6 Maison Margiela, which debuted at London Fashion Week and is expected to hit stores this fall, sets a precedent for this collision of luxury and gorp. Some of those pieces were pretty outlandish — no surprise, given Margiela's affinity of the avant-garde — but we can probably expect the Gucci meetup to skew more on the side of glamorous.

A step above the rest — Out of the trifecta of American outdoor brands including Patagonia and Columbia, The North Face has been by far the most active in the collaboration space. The brand has counted Supreme as a regular partner since 2007 and continued to dabble in streetwear by working with Brain Dead. The North Face has also partnered with several Japanese brands, including Junya Watanabe, Beams, and Hyke.

None of these, however, including Maison Margiela, are in the same stratosphere as Gucci, which makes the foghorn all the more appropriate.