KAWS Announces Upcoming North Face Collab, Teases Mountain Jackets

KAWS—also known as Brian Donnelly—is teasing a collaboration with the outdoor clothing company, sharing the first images of their products on IG.

Something special is brewing between KAWS and the North Face

The popular designer—also known as Brian Donnelly—is teasing a collaboration with the outdoor clothing company, and shared the first images of their products on Instagram Tuesday. Without much other information being revealed, fans were able to get an early glimpse of what appears to be a signature Mountain Jacket complete with X’s and bright red and black panels at the shoulders of the piece. 

“I’ve been working on this one for a long time,” Donnelly wrote to his 3.7 million followers alongside a photo of the products and a logo. “Happy to finally be able to share it with you!”

It’s not clear when the link-up is dropping or what it will officially be called, but the designer did use the hashtag #TheNorthFaceXXKAWS, so time will tell if that sticks as the resulting name. Fans of the pieces shared some love in the comment section, too, as DJ Khaled, Steven Victor, and Pusha-T all gave co-signs. 

This collab isn’t the only thing going on in the worlds of KAWS and TNF, as it’s been a relatively busy few months for both the designer and the clothing brand. Just last month, the North Face launched its second collaboration with Gucci, as the latter’s creative director Alessandro Michele helped bring together some slides, jackets, bags, and everything in between, uniting each brand’s signature aspects. The campaign’s art direction was manned by Christopher Simmonds, with Thomas de Kluyver working makeup and Andrea Martinelli on top of hair styling. 

As for KAWS, the designer dropped a notable Halloween-themed collection back in October, featuring link-ups with Cactus Plant Flea Market and Infinite Archive. Featuring the KAWS character as a skeleton, the collection also made use of the Cactus Plant Flea Market smiley face.

It’ll be interesting to see where the KAWS character plays into the upcoming North Face collab, but regardless, it should be a collection that fans look forward to as we kick off the year. 

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