Today marks a game-changing first for The North Face: the outdoor standout launched its debut global initiative focused solely on women.
“More Mountains,” according to the label, is its effort to celebrate and share the stories of adventurous and courageous female explorers.
Included in the campaign are brand ambassadors such as alpinist Hilaree Nelson, climbers Ashima Shiraishi and Margo Hayes, and ultrarunner and activist Fernanda Maciel, who are featured in a series in a series of short films. Other featured women include women’s empowerment advocate America Ferrera, NASA scientist Tierra Guinn Fletcher and musician and activist Madame Gandhi.
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“We know better than anyone that there are plenty of women out there who are already accomplishing incredible, inspiring things every day. Yet women and girls don’t see themselves represented as ‘explorers,’” Tom Herbst, global vice president of marketing at The North Face, said in a statement. “We had a simple theory that if women and girls see more role models in exploration, it will create more female role models for future generations.”
The new initiative also includes a multi-year outdoor adventure collaboration with Girls Scouts of the USA. The partnership, according to The North Face, will support the creation of 12 new outdoor adventure badges and the accompanying programming, which includes mountaineering, climbing, backpacking, hiking and trail running.
And to launch the partnership, the brand teamed up with America Ferrera, a Girl Scout alum and women’s empowerment advocate.
“The time is now to begin leveling the playing field so that young women and girls grow up seeing women who are already out doing incredible things in the world,” Ferrera said in a statement. “I have no doubt women have been doing it for generations, but those stories don’t tend to get told. Which is why I am proud to partner with an iconic brand like The North Face, to bring resources and increased visibility of female role models to young women and help the next generation see what’s possible.”
The brand also said in a statement that along with the new initiative, it will with increase its investment in women’s product design, employ a renewed focus on employee development and stated it will close the gender pay gap on the athlete team. It also is giving an additional $750,000 to its Explore Fund Grants program, which includes a new $250,000 grant program (honoring former The North Face leader and Outdoor Industry Women’s Coalition co-founder Ann Krcik) to encourage female exploration.
A pair of women’s-only stores will open this year, The North Face said — one in Edina, Minn., and the other in San Francisco.
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