The North Face had a busy year, not least because of the 30th anniversary of one of their most famous jacket: the Nuptse. To commemorate the milestone, The North Face launched many collections centred around the iconic silhouette: the modern Icons RMST Collection, the bold Neon Collection and, most importantly, the retro '92 Nuptse Collection. This last lot also marked the launch of the Limited Edition Nuptse Bear, and I was lucky enough to receive one alongside the equally as impressive '92 Retro Anniversary Nuptse Jacket.
Now, I love the jacket to bits – I'm the proud curator of T3's best down jacket guide – but I can't get over how cute the Nuptse Bear is. Based on the mascot teddy bear 'Hermes' taken on expeditions by legendary US climber Mark Twight in the 1980s, the Nuptse Bear collector's item commemorates the jacket that became an icon (the Nuptse, obvs). Nuptse Bear isn't a cheap little kids' toy but a proper collectible. He is cuddly, sure, but he has an actual down jacket with a working with working zip!
You can see him in the above unboxing video, albeit briefly, as I didn't want to spend ages talking about just the bear when there were so many different cool bits in that mountain-shaped box. The one I've got has a red jacket, but there is another Nuptse Bear version with a blue coat. As for size, the website says, "Our model is 28cm/11' tall and wears size teddy bear." Cute!
The teddy comes wearing a removable jacket with a printed logo, centre front zip (as mentioned above), drawstring cinch hem and faux pockets, just like the original Nuptse jacket, only miniature. I guess if you really wanted to, you could take off the jacket and put it on a cat, but since I like animals and this sounds like animal abuse, I'd recommend keeping the jacket where it belongs: on the teddy bear.
Cuteness overload
You can buy the Nuptse Bear here for a recommended retail price of £135 (approx. $160/AU$234). Apparently, if you sign up for XPLR Pass or sign in to your existing account, you can unlock an exclusive benefit when you add The Nuptse Bear to your cart. Not sure what this benefit might be, but since registration is free, you might as well do it, right? You can shop the '92 Retro Anniversary Nuptse Jacket here (RRP £310, approx. $368/AU$546).
