The North Face expands its Made in USA line

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Mar 1, 2016

The North Face will be launching a second year of its “Backyard Project,” a fully sourced and manufactured in the US collection of men’s and women’s apparel.

The Backyard Project began in November 2014, when the company created a capsule collection of a unisex all-cotton hoody entirely sourced and produced within 150 miles of The North Face’s Alameda, CA headquarters.

The company has taken its key learnings and will be expanding the Backyard Project to include 7 styles this year. The collection includes men’s and women’s zip hoodies and pullovers as well as men’s tees. They are garment dyed in a variety of colors.

“The Backyard Project is about connecting with local artisans right here in the U.S.A. It’s about knowing which farms grew your cotton, who spun the yarn, or how your product was dyed. We learned a lot during Backyard’s 2014 introduction and challenged ourselves to produce a bigger run of locally sourced clothing this season,” said Sumi Scott, Director of Sportswear, The North Face.

While production last year took place in the Bay Area, The North Face has expanded its domestic supply chain to take advantage of the US garment industry. The cotton is sourced in Stratford, CA, and is ginned in California and Arizona. It then is sent to South Carolina to be woven into yarn, and is shipped back to LA for production.

The expansion Scott speaks of has lowered the price point of the signature hoody from its debut last year. Prices for this year's collection range from $40 for the tee to $90 for the zip hoody.

“The Backyard Project emphasizes the importance of ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ The more that large brands can raise awareness of the potential for domestic production, the more likely the consumer will be to seek out domestically produced garments. It’s great to see The North Face supporting this movement,” says Paul Kang, director of Care-Tex Industries, who dyed The Backyard Project garments this year.

The newest Backyard Project pieces are in select North Face stores and the collection is also now available online in the US.