Femininity meets function for The North Face

The North Face Cecilie Bahnsen

Designer Cecilie Bahnsen brings her signature softness to an iconic collaboration with The North Face

Design

StudioXAG

Photography

The North Face

Challenge

The North Face launched its collaboration with Cecilie Bahnsen, creating a collection that redefined resilience through delicate details and sculptural elements, married with technical performance.

We were challenged with designing a concept that would hero the product in both flagship and fleet stores. It had to feel grounded in The North Face’s outdoor heritage, while channelling the softness and strength of Cecilie Bahnsen’s design language.

Insight

The concept explored the duality of femininity, with the collection living in the space between contrasts of soft and strong, poetic and practical, high fashion and high function.

We built the retail concept around this tension. Under the lens of feminine duality, we looked at how raw materials could meet refined finishes, where sculptural concrete could hold delicate metal flowers, and technical product could feel at home in an elevated, almost gallery-like setting.

Solution

Designing their free-standing and in-store global campaign, it was brought to life with a modular, textural kit that flexed to fit each space, creating a seamless design application for every store from Tokyo to London.

The sculptural backdrops were inspired by climbing walls, poured in smooth concrete with chiselled edges for their global in-store rollout. Brushed metal flowers echoed the product’s intricate trims, while transparent acrylic and campaign imagery brought lightness and visibility.

Product displays were designed to feel both elevated and accessible, blending soft curves with hard surfaces, industrial tones with delicate details.

Each touchpoint was crafted to draw people in and invite them to explore. A retail experience built on contrast and cohesion. A space where movement, femininity and technical precision could live side by side.