This is the Guardian.

My name is Marissa Meltzer. I'm a New York City based writer and I often cover fashion and

beauty and culture and I am the author of The Peace You're About to Listen to.

I was inspired to write this long read because I had grown up in Northern California in the 1980s

and there was this kind of crossover fashion utility moment that was happening where people like me

who were quite bookish and not mountain climbing were wearing paddagonia fleeces and north-faced jackets

and then skip ahead a couple decades and I saw it happening again in the streets of New York

and Los Angeles and it got me thinking about the two companies north-faced paddagonia that were

I knew started by friends but had kind of gone off in somewhat different directions and I knew

that there was a story there. Looking back a few years on I only feel like I was a little bit ahead

of the curve or at least that the story is more kind of fresh and vital than ever. You still see

people on the streets wearing paddagonia in north-face of anything you see them even more frequently.

I was just walking my dog in Chinatown in Manhattan and several fashionable men and women were

wearing paddagonia t-shirts and shorts and north-face shoes and paddagonia has become really

well-known and respected and exemplary for its commitment to sustainability and kind of its

embracing of its roots. Whereas north-face has really ventured into collaborating with

companies like Gucci and Supreme and VF Corp that owns the north-face just actually acquired

Supreme pretty recently. Supreme is sort of the streetwear skateboarding brand. So if anything

both companies are sort of more relevant than ever and I'm excited for people to read the story

and learn a little bit about their history and how they're similar but different.

Welcome to the Guardian Long Read showcasing the best long-form journalism covering culture,

politics and new thinking. For the text version of this and all our long reads go to thegardian.com

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