Brandtree

Who owns The North Face?

The North Face is owned by VF Corporation (the United States, NYSE: VFC), which acquired the brand on 1 May 2000.[1][2] The North Face was founded in 1966 in San Francisco, California and was independent until 2000.

Evidence: V.F. Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-05-20, SEC EDGAR, 20 May 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .

Key facts

Current owner
V.F. Corporation verified
Owned since
· deal details
Previous owner
Independent (1966–2000)
Owner HQ
🇺🇸 United States, Denver, Colorado
Origin
🇺🇸 United States, San Francisco, California
Founded
1966
Category
Apparel, footwear & accessories › Sportswear & footwear › Outdoor & workwear
Parent ticker
NYSE: VFC
Last verified
· 2 sources

About The North Face

The North Face was founded as a San Francisco climbing shop in 1966 and named for the coldest, hardest side of a mountain. Its half-dome logo traces the outline of Half Dome in Yosemite. VF acquired the brand in 2000 and it is now its largest.

What VF Corporation's annual report says about The North Face

Sentences about The North Face from VF Corporation's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.

How often VF Corporation names The North Face in its annual report

A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central. The brand is named more often than it was three years earlier.

Annual report filedTimes The North Face is named
202619
202515
202414

Ownership timeline of The North Face

Owners of The North Face over 1966 to 2026 VF Corporation 2000–present VF Corporation 197019801990200020102020
  1. 2000 – present VF Corporation — acquired 1 May 2000 [1][2] verified

Where The North Face sits in VF Corporation

Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.

Where The North Face sits in VF Corporation Tree of 7 brands under VF Corporation. VF Corporation The North Face Altra Dickies Napapijri Smartwool Timberland and 1 more

Open the full VF Corporation ownership tree →

See the full VF Corporation brand portfolio (7) →

Other brands owned by VF Corporation

VF Corporation controls 7 brands on Brandtree, 7 of them in apparel, footwear & accessories.

Also in apparel, footwear & accessories

All VF Corporation brands →

Other brands in outdoor & workwear, and who owns them

The 52 brands in outdoor & workwear on Brandtree belong to 28 owners. The largest is Clarus, with 5; VF Corporation has 3.

BrandOwnerOwner based in
PG Golf Acushnet 🇺🇸 United States
Black Diamond Clarus 🇺🇸 United States
Arc'teryx Amer Sports 🇫🇮 Finland
Cannon Johnson Outdoors 🇺🇸 United States
Kathmandu KMD Brands 🇳🇿 New Zealand
Callaway Golf Callaway Golf 🇺🇸 United States
Columbia Columbia Sportswear 🇺🇸 United States
B'Twin Decathlon 🇫🇷 France

Every brand in outdoor & workwear and its owner →

About the owner: VF Corporation

VF Corporation is a publicly listed company headquartered in Denver, Colorado, United States, founded in 1899. Brandtree records 7 brands under its control, and it is listed as NYSE: VFC.

VF Corporation began in 1899 as a Pennsylvania glove maker and became one of the largest apparel groups in the world by acquiring outdoor, workwear and denim brands. It spun off its jeans business as Kontoor Brands in 2019, taking Lee and Wrangler out of the portfolio.

VF Corporation: full profile, brands and acquisition history →

🇺🇸 The North Face and other American brands

Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,550 brands that began in the United States. 479 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; The North Face is not one of them.

All American brands and who owns them →

Deals involving The North Face

Acquisition closed

VF Corporation acquires The North Face

VF Corporation acquired The North Face, which had been founded as a San Francisco climbing shop in 1966 and was in financial difficulty. It became one of the largest outdoor brands in the world under VF ownership.

Value
Undisclosed
Seller
—
Regulatory
None recorded

Frequently asked questions

Who is the parent company of The North Face?

The parent company of The North Face is VF Corporation, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.

Is The North Face American?

Yes. The North Face originated in the United States in 1966 and its owner, VF Corporation, is also headquartered in the United States.

When did VF Corporation buy The North Face?

VF Corporation completed its acquisition of The North Face on 1 May 2000, after announcing the deal on 10 April 2000. The price was not disclosed.

Who owned The North Face before VF Corporation?

The North Face was an independent company from its founding in 1966 in San Francisco, California until VF Corporation acquired it in 2000.

Is The North Face still owned by VF Corporation?

Yes. As of 9 October 2026, The North Face is still owned by VF Corporation. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.

Sources (2) & corrections

Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.

  1. [1] V.F. Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-05-20 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 20 May 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
  2. [2] V.F. Corporation Form 10-K - The North Face acquisition — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 1 March 2001; retrieved 16 September 2026.

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