Last Spring, mastermind WORLD and The North Face Urban Exploration announced their inaugural collaboration and unveiled a pop-up location in Beijing. Masaaki Homma's new line catered to a different crowd than the original mastermind JAPAN. Instead of offering blacked-out, grungy garments, Homma found the perfect balance between the wilderness and city lifestyle. The capsule consisted of down puffers and a zip-up jacket all featuring the GORE-TEX technology we've come to expect in The North Face's most functional garments. Basic essentials such as t-shirts, pants and a backpack helped to round out the capsule, offering a full head-to-toe look.

The collaboration serves to reinforce The North Face UE's direction of balancing utility and high-fashion. In an attempt to capture more functionality-focused fans, The North Face Urban Exploration caters to the high-fashion urban wear crowd. Coupled with mastermind WORLD's provocative and ubiquitous iconography, the collaboration makes perfect sense.

In addition to the capsule, a pop-up shop featuring a "cross-border, interactive space" supplemented the collaboration's debut. New technologies that include virtual reality, human body sensors and innovative fabrics convey The North Face UE's future in functional wear.

Back in January during Paris fashion week, sacai unveiled its long-anticipated collaboration with The North Face. Having previously collaborated with Nike on an eight-piece womenswear collection, Chitose Abe is no stranger to dynamic design. The cozy collection offers understated garments in a subdued color palette. Working effectively with some otherwise heavy branding, the collaboration features a unique take on a variety of ‘90s The North Face silhouettes. Fishtail parkas, bomber jackets, puffer coats, mountain pants, hoodies, t-shirts and caps all make appearances, with bold branding and sacai's ubiquitous button snaps and zippers featured throughout.

The most hyped-up entry on this list, Supreme has a long-standing tradition of collaborating with the mountain sportswear giant. The label's seasonal project with The North Face has produced some of streetwear's most coveted pieces. James Jebbia always aimed to supply skaters with clothing for all occasions, and hooking up with The North Face has produced some of the most technically proficient, high-performance outdoors gear for streetwear stans to brave the elements while camping out for their next grail.

The longstanding collaboration between the two powerhouses began Fall 2007. Supreme reworked The North Face's classic Summit jacket in two colorways, one in earth tones and another in bright volt colors reminscent of 1990s outdoor gear—think Nike's cult classic ACG line. As the project progressed, Supreme x The North Face incorporated numerous motifs including city skylines, leopard print, color blocking, camo, paisley, and block text into their designs. In the past decade, the collaboration has included some of The North Face's most celebrated designs such as the Summit jacket, Polartec fleece, Expedition pullover, Nuptse, and Mountain parka. In classic The North Face fashion, these staple garments feature the full range of functional elements: 3M reflective shells, GORE-TEX denim, water-resistant waxed cotton, synthetic insulation and goose down.

As with most Supreme collabs, the recurring The North Face project relies on simple yet bold reworkings of classic garments. In a similar manner to mastermind WORLD's recent collaboration, Supreme finds the optimal intersection of The North Face's functionality and the streetwear label's own notorious wit and countercultural spirit. Unsurprisingly, the Supreme x The North Face's co-branded logo has become a regular fixture on the thriving resell market. Wether it appears on a leopard print puffer jacket or reflective windbreakers, many of the brands most sought after items sport the collaborative badge. Utilizing a range of functional utility, coupled with ubiquitous 90's motifs, Supreme x The North Face continues to set the standard for all street-inspired outerwear.

For Fall/Winter 2017, Beams and The North Face joined forces for a limited edition capsule collection. The famed purveyor of neo-ivy Japanese fashion reimagined The North Face's Expedition franchise in teal, tan, and black looks. Minimally branded, the pieces married elevated trad style with technical performance and the functionality required to brave the elements. Additionally, the collection featured lightweight parkas, long-sleeve t-shirts, trekking pants and 5-panel hats to round out the offering. An added plus, the outerwear boasts stretch nylon for flexibility with added water-resistant properties.

If anybody has authority over utilitarian garments, it is Junya Watanabe. His work features the sort of durability that sidesteps fashion, and is prone to sell an item in and of itself. The Japanese designer is renowned for his penchant for workwear and reconstructions, and his Fall/Winter 2017 and Spring/Summer 2018 collections are no exception. Both seasons featured collaborative items made in conjunction with The North Face that explored the American and technical aspects of the outdoor company, respectively.

For Fall/Winter 2017 the designer presented classic Americana styles. Including a baseball jacket, hooded sweatshirt, wool twill flannel jacket, long coat and Oxford jacket, each item featured patchwork detailing and broken The North Face logo placed randomly throughout. The stand out detail for this particular capsule was the utilization of duffle bag material implemented on various outerwear pieces, creating items that resembled luggage. The obscure mixture of waxed cotton, twill, and melange wool allow for a unique interpretation of traditional staple garments.

For Spring/Summer 2018, Junya Watanabe MAN x The North Face was a bit more functional, and a lot more unhinged. In addition to featuring patchwork Carhartt workwear suits, paint-splattered Levi's, and cropped outerwear, the collection included anoraks brilliantly patch-worked together from cut-up The North Face backpacks. Taking things a step further, hiking jackets—a three-way collaboration with sportswear retailer Karrimor—had built in backpacks. Watanabe and The North Face utilized Karrimor’s extensive archive to offer one-off garments that create the illusion you are wearing a backpack, when in fact, you are wearing a jacket made from a deconstructed backpack. While Watanabe has worked with The North Face before, the last two seasons radical approach have elevated the collaboration to new heights.

Two years ago, The North Face teamed up with another American stalwart, Vans, to reinterpret its classic Sk8-Hi. The project included three new versions of the Vans Sk8-Hi MTE LX and Desert Chukka MTE L. Reconstructed for colder weather, the updated sneaker included gusseted tongues, reversed waffle lug outsoles, heat retention technology, and were water repellent. A new version of the Nuptse jacket was also introduced, adding Vans' signature pattern to the staple.

In November, The North Face and Vans reconnected for another assortment of sneakers, bags, and jackets. This time, the Sk8-Hi and Old Skool silhouettes were covered in The North Face's Scotchguard® technology for added waterproof functionality and warmth in the colder months. Both models include waffle soles, suede uppers, Vans branding on tongue, and a bold The North Face logo at the heel. In addition to footwear, the capsule includes a duffle bag and an updated version of the Torrey jacket with synthetic PrimaLoft® fill for lightweight warmth. Championing values of innovation and adventure, Vans and The North Face fused their proprietary design elements to create functional cold-weather offerings.

In addition to collaborating with a myriad of Japanese labels, The North Face continues its' strongest year to date through its impending collaboration with HYKE. The obscure and relatively unknown brand's bold aesthetic is echoed through mountain parkas and hardshell pullovers that play with proportion and pattern. In the upcoming collection, classic The North Face silhouettes are cropped and parkas are elongated to gown-like lengths. Muted olive green, black, and white hues are supplemented with a bold snakeskin pattern. The effect is similar to many of The North Face’s collaborative endeavors—clothes that are as aesthetically striking as they are functional. While the collaboration will only be available for purchase in Japan, it will inevitably turn up on Grailed in the near future.