The North Face Advanced Mountain Kit: Astronomical Prices

North Face’s Summit Series line is legitimately really good gear.

this new collection is obviously aimed more at the “dentist climbing Everest” and less at the “stalking the used gear forum on MP” crowd.

Not that I'm going to buy any, but is it only for men?

Brent Kellywrote:

The North Face?

Isn’t that one of those fashion companies owned by Conde Nast magazines that sometimes pretends to be a gear manufacturer in an attempt to cash in on overstoked scenester morons?

I think VF Corporation (who owns TNF) and Vanity Fair (owned by Conde Nast) magazine are two unrelated companies. Though from what I saw VF is short for vanity fair, but not the same vanity fair as the magazine.

Basically TNF is not owned by a magazine publisher.

Condé Nast: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cond%C3%A9_Nast 

VF Corporation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VF_Corporation 

Brent Kellywrote:

short answer: yes.

You kind of ducked all the other points.  either way I'm sorry that you think some products that are for sale are dumb and not worth the money.  The good news is, you don't have to buy them.

Kyle W wrote:

I think VF Corporation (who owns TNF) and Vanity Fair (owned by Conde Nast) magazine are two unrelated companies. Though from what I saw VF is short for vanity fair, but not the same vanity fair as the magazine.

Basically TNF is not owned by a magazine publisher.

D'oh. Egg on my face. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VF_Corporation

Hilarity acknowledged. 

Thanks for calmly helping sort out my rage. Now I hate VFC and Vanity Fair for separate but related reasons. 

DE F: "Short answer" translates to "I'm not interested in engaging with your veiled defense of unbounded capitalism."

Fuck TNF.

— 

Responding here as I’ve been (rightfully) red-walled and don’t want to come back to this thread in the morning to say this and be done with it:

(Ps the red-wall functionality sucks on mobile, at least on my iPhone6s. Offers you the chance to copy your text, but super hard to actually execute the copy/paste. Too lazy to post in the AboutMP forum. Complaining here. Not important.)

—

DE F typed: Not what I was going for.  When it comes to Gucci - part of why it’s so expensive is because 

I was curious what outdoor brands you do support, what’s the criteria for not being told to go fuck yourself 

    Oh man, touche.

I suppose the criteria for not being told to go fuck yourself is me not being in a pissy mood and looking for a reason to rage.

And as for a legitimate dialogue about where to draw the line in tolerating less than ideal business ethics:

1) apologies for imputing a dogmatic intent on your original pushback. In a belligerent mood today, and so fucking tired of the PragerU bullshit in general. Not my best behavior. Pardon me.

2) Still not interested in spending much time on discussing where I draw the line, but, summarily:

- I don’t “support” any outdoor brands, except maybe organizations I have a personal/sentimental attachment to (and thats more about extant personal relationships than amorphous brand support) and those non-profits/charities/what-have-you which I believe are well-intended and improving the overall ecosystem in a conscious, equitable way.

- I try to buy from companies that don’t have a track record of being involved in predatory practices. I consider selling cotton socks for $200 in partnership with a luxury label to be predatory behavior. 

3) I acknowledge that over-production of “disposable goods” and the general concept of planned obsolescence also dramatically contributes to wasteful production/pollution and the global wealth gap. 

But nah, “handmade for a small market of consumers passionate about quality” is not why TNF and Gucci teamed up to charge $200 for cotton socks, amongst vanity/clout pricing on plenty of other products.

Is this the biggest offense in the history of capitalism and/or marketing?
No.

Should I find better ways to entertain myself than attempting to hijack a thread out of blind rage? Most definitely.

(Fuck TNF)

Brent Kellywrote:

DE F: "Short answer" translates to "I'm not interested in engaging with your veiled defense of unbounded capitalism."

Fuck TNF.

Not what I was going for.  When it comes to Gucci - part of why it’s so expensive is because it’s all made in Italy, unlike almost every outdoor manufacturer they don’t rely on cheap Asian factory labor to pad their profits, if anything it’s the ‘cheap’ brands that contribute to global issues much more than small market luxury brands.

I was curious what outdoor brands you do support, what’s the criteria for not being told to go fuck yourself 

Nolan Yahok wrote:

We get it, you'd die for the VF corp.

this has the exact same energy as a middle schooler shouting "We get it Bobby you just LoOoOoOvE the teacher!"   this has been a hilarious thread and I hope it goes on forever

https://www.thenorthface.com/shop-by/advanced-mountain-kit.html

Wow, that male model. Its like Alex Honnold and Kelly Cordes made a baby!   

The summit series is an attention seeking ad buy for mass marketing purposes just like their athletes. Not made for any other reason.

I could see this with a harness.

I just saw the shell mittens and thought to myself "That seems like a nice layering system for ski touring, I will buy them".  That did not happen though.  

Strings Attachedwrote:

And the rest who sold their souls ....;) 

Conrad Anker is one of the nicest, most humble people I’ve met. Had the great opportunity to spend a week with him in Norway and couldn’t think more highly of the guy as a human being. 

Dan COwrote:

You kind of ducked all the other points.  either way I'm sorry that you think some products that are for sale are dumb and not worth the money.  The good news is, you don't have to buy them.

Pointing out that you don't have to buy them is meaningless as a response to criticism. TNF is like the prime example of an outdoor company turned fashion company that uses climbers for marketing and image, but increasingly prices out climbers in favor of higher profits. Of course some climbers are gonna have critiques. And wonder why you're defending this corporation so hard

R K wrote:

I never understood why they make clothes for fat dad bods. How about for us tall slender folks?

That's because that's a normal body nowadays and besides, who else but people with wealth bellies can afford these prices? 

The filter and grain that they used to make everyone in their team athlete photos look like they just returned from the trenches of world war 1 is....odd. is it to make them look more badass? Peter Croft looks to be a 95 year old coal miner.  

this thread has done more for marketing this advanced mountain kit than anything TNF has put out so far, so well done! i had no idea they sold any of this until i kept seeing this thread on MP. if you don't like TNF and their products, shitting on them in this thread changes nothing and only promotes them to those unaware.

People will still buy this stuff, just look at Arcteryx, people will drop $900 on a raincoat like its nothing.

Kurt Owenswrote:

Pointing out that you don't have to buy them is meaningless as a response to criticism. TNF is like the prime example of an outdoor company turned fashion company that uses climbers for marketing and image, but increasingly prices out climbers in favor of higher profits. Of course some climbers are gonna have critiques. And wonder why you're defending this corporation so hard

Missing the point - they're profit driven like basically every other outdoor company.  Patagonia is in everyone good graces for their sustainability efforts but they were known as patagucci for years because it so expensive.  Also the 'advanced mountain kit' is obviously not marketed to vanlifers, neither is the gucci collaboration, I don't think many people climbing in the himalayas are getting priced out of this gear (or paying full price for it).  I could also go find the most expensive toyota and whine about their prices when there are plenty of other affordable options.

When it comes to 'using climbers' for marketing and image - you just described sponsorship.  Every big outdoor brand does it.  My defense isn't specifically of North Face, its that Brent was piling on them for doing what most every other big brand does and I'm curious what fits the qualification of a brand we're not supposed to hate.

Well, TNF basically abandoned its roots, a couple of decades back. They are in a special class, because of the heritage of the brand and what the corp failed to do - which is support us common climbers with righteous and affordable gear. That is not TNF.

Cherokee Nuneswrote:

Well, TNF basically abandoned its roots, a couple of decades back. They are in a special class, because of the heritage of the brand and what the corp failed to do - which is support us common climbers with righteous and affordable gear. That is not TNF.

Yup.  I already said that.