The North Face Urban Exploration: Kazuki Collection First drop launching in Fall 2018

TNF Urban Exploration Black Series “Kazuki” Fall 2018 Collection Campaign: Images created by Japanese artist Tetsuya Nagato.

The North Face Urban Exploration is proud to present its latest Black Series launch, the Kazuki collection — in collaboration with Japanese designer/graphic artist Kazuki Kuraishi — with its highly anticipated first drop for Fall 2018 to be to be released in Asia on September 10, 2018; and at The North Face Carnaby Street and Berlin Mitte, plus select retailers in the EU, on October 24, 2018.

Attuned to TNF Urban Exploration’s vision to balance utility with fashion, where high-quality outdoor-inspired silhouettes are translated for the urban setting, Kazuki has created a unique modern-street look that combines premium materials and innovative details with his distinctive Japanese-minimalist styling. Having grown up in Northern Japan, spent his teenage years in Colorado (where he discovered his love for mountain biking), studied graphic design in New York City, then returning to Tokyo to inadvertently hone his passion for street culture, Kazuki’s intriguing life groomed him to be a perfect collaborator for TNF Urban Exploration.

He explains of his new collection: “While inspiration was drawn from various fields, I focused on expanding the brand’s overall ‘Shelter’ theme, offering protection in an urban environment.” Incorporating TNF’s modern “wearable technologies” in his designs, the Kazuki collection features: waterproof, windproof and breathableGore-Tex®protection; lightweight, packable Primaloft®insulation; and soft, windproof, breathablePertex®wicking fabric. Kazuki adds: “Yet, even though the clothes themselves aren’t simple, the clothes can be simply worn by anyone. I wanted to make each piece easy to wear.”

The Kazuki collection’s first drop features 14 menswear pieces, including three jacket styles, three top/T-shirt designs and one pant (all in two colorways each). The highlight style, Kazuki says, is the DryVent™ Jacket, which boasts a technical/utility design element. “The pocket has one of the most distinct finishes,” he explains, “where you can take the long tape, roll up the jacket and sling it over your shoulder like a bag. In this piece, function definitely came first before design.”

Famed as an exceptional “functional streetwear” designer, Kazuki’s career began as an intern for NIGO at the iconic Japanese brand, A Bathing Ape; and flourished under the mentorship of Hiroshi Fujiwara of fragment design. Today, he’s evolved his own signature style that combines a clean “lifestyle aesthetic” with an “easy to wear” approach — yet, always with technical acumen.