From its name to its long-standing mission, The North Face has long championed the sport climbing community. It is therefore no surprise that the company has created the official competition uniforms for athletes competing in the upcoming Olympic Games for the second year in a row.
The company was founded in 1966 as a climbing supply store and has been manufacturing climbing apparel for the sport's competitive athletes for many years. Sport climbing was first featured at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and this will be the second time it has participated.
The North Face will be dressing not only the U.S. team, but also players from Japan, South Korea and Austria. It also created a sport climbing competition kit for France, which had already committed to wearing a different uniform to fulfill its sponsorship obligations.
Lead designer Patrick Sullivan said The North Face worked closely with numerous athletes on design and construction to create the uniform, including Nathaniel Coleman, Melina Costanza and Nina Williams. The pattern making was analyzed with his 3D software, and the garments were fitted to the climbing wall using athletes as testers.
Uniform options include baggy or cropped T-shirts and shorts.
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Visually, the uniforms take inspiration from each country's highest peaks: Mt. Denali in the United States, Mt. Grossglockner in Austria, Mt. Fuji in Japan, and Mt. Hallasan in South Korea.
Sullivan said there were several “driving forces” when designing the uniform. It's a bold graphic approach that takes inspiration from a deep dive into past Olympians from other sports, such as the Grateful Dead-designed T-shirt worn by the 1992 Lithuanian men's basketball team. Barcelona Olympics.
“When I talked to athletes, they said they just wanted to look good,” he said. He said the uniform's eye-popping pattern led to players' desire to “be very expressive in their own style.”
There are 12 silhouettes in total, ranging from cropped T-shirts and tight shorts to rugby shirts, which are “very popular in the mountaineering world.” We also have oversized T-shirts and baggy shorts.
“If you look at climbers in training, they're wearing oversized fits,” he said. “The spacious look is built to the highest mobility standards, but there are also more traditional skin-hugging options.”
All pieces have external taping rather than internal structure to prevent chafing. “Most seam construction is on the inside, but we moved the seam to the outside,” he said.
The silhouettes for each country are the same, only the graphics differ.
Selected items from the kit will be available for purchase by consumers starting July 1st. This includes competition shorts, t-shirts, and tank tops for men and women. Prices range from $80 to $145.
Sport climbing is a modern sport that has become extremely popular over the past 20 years. According to the United States Olympic Committee, there are more than 25 million climbers in 150 countries around the world, and 39 percent of climbers are under the age of 18.
