The North Face Launches Global Effort to Celebrate the New Generation of Female Explorers

ALAMEDA, Calif., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The North Face today launched a massive and first-ever global initiative focused on women, celebrating and sharing the stories of adventurous and courageous female explorers.

Move Mountains is rooted in empowering the next generation of explorers and includes a multi-year outdoor adventure collaboration with Girls Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), a platform for sharing more stories of women in exploration, and a business commitment that impacts everything from representation in advertising campaigns to investment in product design. 

"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'," said Tom Herbst, global vice president of marketing at The North Face. "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."

To watch the short films and learn more about Move Mountains visit http://www.thenorthface.com/shemovesmountains or follow the conversation with #SheMovesMountains.

MOVE MOUNTAINS

The cornerstone of Move Mountains is celebrating stories of women who are pushing boundaries, including The North Face athletes, alpinist Hilaree Nelson, climbing phenoms Ashima Shiraishi and Margo Hayes, and ultrarunner and activist Fernanda Maciel, in a series of short films narrated by fellow role models who admire them. The North Face is also featuring women who are explorers beyond physical exploration, like women's empowerment advocate America Ferrera, NASA scientist Tierra Guinn Fletcher, and musician and activist Madame Gandhi.

In an effort to canvas the world with female explorers who are artists, athletes, educators and scientists, The North Face is making a commitment to equal representation of women in all advertising, social media and content moving forward.

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD

To help enable the next generation of women to push boundaries and move mountains, The North Face is announcing a multi-year outdoor adventure collaboration with GSUSA that includes support for the creation of 12 new Girl Scouts outdoor adventure badges with programming ranging from mountaineering and climbing, to backpacking, hiking and trail running for Girl Scouts throughout the United States.

"Girl Scouts has been blazing the trail for girls' leadership in the outdoors for more than a century, and outdoor badges continue to be amongst the most popular category of badges our girls ask for," said GSUSA CEO, Sylvia Acevedo. "We are excited to partner with The North Face to help girls challenge themselves, learn about the natural world, and continue the Girl Scout tradition of having life-changing outdoor experiences. Our research shows outdoor experiences are part of fostering leadership skills in girls. This new programming inspires them to create their own outdoor adventures and develop critical leadership skills that prepare them for a lifetime of exploration and success."

To launch the partnership, The North Face is joining with America Ferrera, Girl Scout alum and women's empowerment advocate, to increase visibility of role models for girls and encourage them to explore - both outdoors and beyond - in their everyday lives.

"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," said Ferrera. "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. "

A RENEWED FOCUS

The North Face is also applying the spirit of Move Mountains to its internal business - with an increased investment in women's product design, renewed focus on employee development and ensured closure of the gender pay gap on the athlete team.  

In the US, The North Face is expanding the focus of the Explore Fund Grants program to $750,000, with a new $250,000 grant program focused on enabling female exploration. This new annual grant program will honor Ann Krcik, who was a long-time leader at The North Face and one of the founders of the Outdoor Industries Women's Coalition (now Camber Outdoors). The Explore Fund was founded in 2010 and has given $2.75 million to over 500 nonprofits in support of furthering outdoor exploration.

The company is also expanding its women's product offerings, beginning with bottoms, which the brand is reinventing through compression, core support and vision science. New styles and silhouettes will be available this month in-store and online. Key pieces include the Perfect Core High-Rise Tight, Contoured Tech High-Rise Tight, and Beyond the Wall Free Motion Bra.

The North Face will open two women-specific stores in 2018. The first, located in Edina, MN, will focus on the brand's running and training apparel. The second women's store will be located in San Francisco, CA and carry all women's product lines, including running and training gear, mountain and urban focused products.

About The North Face® 
The North Face, a division of VF Outdoor, LLC, was founded in 1966 with the goal of preparing outdoor athletes for the rigors of their next adventure. Today we are the world's leading outdoor brand, creating athlete-tested, expedition-proven products that help people explore and test the limits of human potential. We protect our outdoor playgrounds and minimize our impact on the planet through programs that encourage sustainability. The North Face products are available at premium and specialty retail sporting goods stores globally and we are headquartered in California on a LEED Platinum-certified campus. For more information, please visit www.thenorthface.com.

Agency Credits:
Move Mountains creative, including a campaign anthem spot, digital shorts and advertising across print, digital and social media was supported by The North Face agency of record Sid Lee. United Entertainment Group supported as The North Face consumer communication and influencer agency. Starcom Worldwide supported the campaign as the media agency.

US Media Contacts:
The North Face                                                
Jennifer Davis
Sr. Public Relations Coordinator
510.814.3190                     
[email protected]

United Entertainment Group                                                    
Katie Tufts
UEG for The North Face                               
415.203.8404
[email protected]

Press kit and images can be viewed here

SOURCE The North Face