Scott Mellin

Every year, Fast Company’s World-Changing Ideas Awards honor the innovative ways businesses and organizations are tackling the biggest challenges of our time.

This deliciously pillowy puffer — made from 87% recycled materials — will keep you toasty all winter long.

For inventing a breathable performance-wear fabric that keeps moisture out and sweat at bay

In 2019, the outdoor brand launched Futurelight, an ultrathin synthetic fabric with microscopic perforations on it that are both waterproof and breathable. North Face launched the fabric in jackets for running and skiing, but plans to incorporate it into many other products including pants and T-shirts.

Waterproof clothing tends to be stuffy to wear, which is why The North Face developed FUTURELIGHT. At first glance the company’s FUTURELIGHT jacket might look like a traditional windbreaker, but the fabric uses new nanospinning technology to be extra breathable. Products in the FUTURELIGHT line range from $120 to $749. —Emily Price

The Advanced Mountain Kit may be the most refined apparel and equipment line for mountaineering we have seen. The North Face worked for 4 years on research and development to build a 21-piece line that includes base-, mid-, and outer-layers, down jackets, a tent, sleeping bag, gloves, boots, and basically everything you need on peaks up to 8,000 meters.

It starts from a base layer and works outward, through midlayers, a shell, and a down summit suit. In addition to FUTURELIGHT materials,… Voir plus

The Advanced Mountain Kit may be the most refined apparel and equipment line for mountaineering we have seen. The North Face worked for 4 years on research and development to build a 21-piece line that includes base-, mid-, and outer-layers, down jackets, a tent, sleeping bag, gloves, boots, and basically everything you need on peaks up to 8,000 meters.

It starts from a base layer and works outward, through midlayers, a shell, and a down summit suit. In addition to FUTURELIGHT materials, four proprietary technologies are found throughout the line. These include new down baffle construction, octagonal-shaped yarn (for higher thermal performance in fleece), a moisture-expelling material with hydrophobic inner yarns, and more.

Working its way down, the line reimagines 8,000m boots with low-top hikers that fit inside insulating overboots in high-altitude situations. Finally, a sub-3-pound single-wall tent made from breathable FUTURELIGHT fabric rounds out this incredible package of gear built for the tallest peaks on the planet. Voir moins

Flight FutureLight Jacket.

Most rain gear isn’t that comfortable to wear and can feel stuffy. That’s why we’re excited about The North Face’s latest innovation: Futurelight. Designed using nanospinning tech so it has super-tiny holes to let air pass through, the fabric is uniquely breathable without sacrificing rain protection. Jackets, pants, and gloves made from it are available now and perfect for running, skiing or hiking while braving the elements. Our fiber scientists were blown… Voir plus

Flight FutureLight Jacket.

Most rain gear isn’t that comfortable to wear and can feel stuffy. That’s why we’re excited about The North Face’s latest innovation: Futurelight. Designed using nanospinning tech so it has super-tiny holes to let air pass through, the fabric is uniquely breathable without sacrificing rain protection. Jackets, pants, and gloves made from it are available now and perfect for running, skiing or hiking while braving the elements. Our fiber scientists were blown away by the new technology and the fact that the jacket was both breathable and waterproof. We also liked that it was lightweight and made with recycled materials and didn’t crinkle as the wearer moved. Voir moins

The SUMMIT L3 50/50 DOWN HOODIE pullover from THE NORTH FACE is a completely new kind of down mid-layer. It has been awarded Product of the Year by the judges for its combination of breathability and warmth in such a light and compact package.

The North Face FUTURELIGHT Technology
Waterproof, breathable and stretchable at the same time – for the first time a clothing brand manages to successfully squeeze all three properties into one material: please welcome The North Face FUTURELIGHT technology – the beginning of a new generation of outdoor clothing. The revolutionary material is produced with a nanospinning process, which can be customized and adapted to the production of different textiles. This technology creates nanoscale… Voir plus

The North Face FUTURELIGHT Technology
Waterproof, breathable and stretchable at the same time – for the first time a clothing brand manages to successfully squeeze all three properties into one material: please welcome The North Face FUTURELIGHT technology – the beginning of a new generation of outdoor clothing. The revolutionary material is produced with a nanospinning process, which can be customized and adapted to the production of different textiles. This technology creates nanoscale pores in the material ensuring vapour and air permeability and making the material extremely breathable. At the same time, the openings are so small, that no water can get through from the outside. This stretchy and sturdy material provides an excellent fit and is therefore the ideal fabric for a wide selection of clothing and equipment. The innovative FUTURELIGHT fully convinced our jury on long, sweaty hikes in the pouring rain. We are looking forward to future products! Voir moins

The Summit Series L5 Light Jacket is made of FUTURELIGHT, a new material which is manufactured using nanospinning on the basis of sustainable processes. It is currently one of the most technically advanced materials in terms of breath­ability and waterproofness. The new process also allows weight, stretch, durability, texture and construction – knitted or woven – to be adapted to the activity or environment to produce responsible garments.
Statement by the Jury

The Summit Series L5… Voir plus

The Summit Series L5 Light Jacket is made of FUTURELIGHT, a new material which is manufactured using nanospinning on the basis of sustainable processes. It is currently one of the most technically advanced materials in terms of breath­ability and waterproofness. The new process also allows weight, stretch, durability, texture and construction – knitted or woven – to be adapted to the activity or environment to produce responsible garments.
Statement by the Jury

The Summit Series L5 Light Jacket impresses with the outstanding properties of its innovative material, making it an exemplary example of sustainability.

Red Dot Design Award Voir moins

The North Face TENTE FUTURELIGHT JACKET

The Tente Futurelight Jacket solves a supposed contradiction: it is completely waterproof, but at the same time highly permeable to water vapour. That's right - many other manufacturers are claiming the same benefit. However, The North Face can present convincing and unmatched figures: a useful water column of 15,000 millimetres combined with an above-average water vapour permeability of 70,000 g/m²/24h MVTR. The membrane is manufactured using the… Voir plus

The North Face TENTE FUTURELIGHT JACKET

The Tente Futurelight Jacket solves a supposed contradiction: it is completely waterproof, but at the same time highly permeable to water vapour. That's right - many other manufacturers are claiming the same benefit. However, The North Face can present convincing and unmatched figures: a useful water column of 15,000 millimetres combined with an above-average water vapour permeability of 70,000 g/m²/24h MVTR. The membrane is manufactured using the nanospinning process. The process is not new, but after around two years of development, The North Face has managed to laminate the various layers in such a way that their functionality can be permanently guaranteed. The Tente Futurelight Jacket also convinces with a very pleasant feel, high load-bearing capacity and a convincing ecological balance: the jacket is free of PFC and consists exclusively of recycled materials. Voir moins

TNF Steep Series A-Cad Jacket and Bib :
It’s easy to throw around words such as “gamechanger” and “revolutionary,” but in the world of protective yet breathable outerwear, that’s what The North Face’s new FutureLight technology is. Just picture: A shell so breathable you can keep it on through high-output activities, yet also so protective that it will keep you warm and dry on the way down. That was the directive given to TNF’s materials team. The result is FutureLight. Created using a… Voir plus

TNF Steep Series A-Cad Jacket and Bib :
It’s easy to throw around words such as “gamechanger” and “revolutionary,” but in the world of protective yet breathable outerwear, that’s what The North Face’s new FutureLight technology is. Just picture: A shell so breathable you can keep it on through high-output activities, yet also so protective that it will keep you warm and dry on the way down. That was the directive given to TNF’s materials team. The result is FutureLight. Created using a process called nanospinning, where strings of polymer are extruded out through thousands of minuscule nozzles to form porous layers, FutureLight fabric allows for incredible breathability while also deflecting moisture and whatever else the high alpine throws its way. In addition to its technological advantages, the FutureLight material is surprisingly pliable and soft to the touch—a fabric you want to keep wearing all day. Voir moins

It used to be that Gore-Tex was your only option if you wanted a waterproof but breathable jacket, but after seeing and wearing what The North Face brought to the show this year, it's clear that there's a new sheriff in town. The company's new Futurelight fabric is lighter and thinner, and orders of magnitude more breathable -- in addition to being completely waterproof. Functionally speaking, this means that excessive moisture won't build up inside your jacket if you start to sweat. In fact… Voir plus

It used to be that Gore-Tex was your only option if you wanted a waterproof but breathable jacket, but after seeing and wearing what The North Face brought to the show this year, it's clear that there's a new sheriff in town. The company's new Futurelight fabric is lighter and thinner, and orders of magnitude more breathable -- in addition to being completely waterproof. Functionally speaking, this means that excessive moisture won't build up inside your jacket if you start to sweat. In fact, you probably won't start to sweat in the first place. It's seriously that breathable.

To achieve this minor miracle, Digital Trends reporter Kraig Becker wrote, "the North Face had to completely go back to the drawing board to design and create an entirely new fabric. The company used a technique known as nanospinning to weave the fibers that make up Futurelight on a sub-microscopic level. This technique allowed The North Face to incorporate nano-sized holes within the material itself, creating a high level of porosity. In short, it was able to create a fabric that lets air move freely through the fibers, while remaining waterproof at the same time. "

- By Drew Prindle Voir moins

Gear of the Year.

Waterproof or breathable, pick one. That was typically the choice you were forced to make with foul-weather running jackets—you were going to get soaked either from rain or from your own sweat trapped inside a waterproof shell that wouldn’t let enough hot air escape. But new jackets like The North Face Futurelight Flight change that. It’s a stretchy, lightweight shell with a waterproof membrane laminated inside. The fibers allow heat to escape through the tiny gaps in… Voir plus

Gear of the Year.

Waterproof or breathable, pick one. That was typically the choice you were forced to make with foul-weather running jackets—you were going to get soaked either from rain or from your own sweat trapped inside a waterproof shell that wouldn’t let enough hot air escape. But new jackets like The North Face Futurelight Flight change that. It’s a stretchy, lightweight shell with a waterproof membrane laminated inside. The fibers allow heat to escape through the tiny gaps in the weave, but water molecules won’t fit. Even on warm days, it keeps you more comfortably dry than old seam-sealed shells. Voir moins