The North Face Stretch DIAD Jacket

TNF need to wake up to the fact that making stretchy stuff is absolutely pointless if they keep using this boxy cut. No one will notice it, like the reviewer here. I know they will say "but that's our cut", but c'mon boys. If you're doing stretchy hardshells like this you can obviously afford to cut them a bit closer. The jacket will breathe better and flap less anyway...

Posted: 07/09/2009 at 20:44

The facepalm aspect is especially painful when you consider that they have exclusive stretch pro shell for the next year, on the mammatus, quite possibly the world's boxiest Pro Shell. Yup, that's really going to sell. TNF have some nice ideas but never quite manage to think things through properly.

Posted: 07/09/2009 at 20:46

Maybe they reckon it is tight fitting on their target customers

Posted: 07/09/2009 at 21:53

When are they gonna sort out their hoods?  I have a summit series hard shell and have had to get a second jacket for normal UK use as the north face hood collapses on to your face as soon as you get any wind with the rain (so usual UK hill weather then!).  Mind you it'll last forever only getting 2-3 weeks use a year!!

Posted: 11/09/2009 at 11:15

People rarely point this out, but TNF is subtly different brand in Europe and the US. Over here it still has quite technical overtones, in the States it's more middle of the road outdoors. The cut and hood issues, I think, reflect their American customer base.

As far as stretch goes. You can either use it to make garments close fitting and technical, rarely done, or to expand the size range of a particular garment. Stretch on jackets doesn't inicrease mobility, unless very cleverly cut, even when the jacket fits well. It might work, say, across the shoulders, but your sleeves will pull over your wrists before the fabric stretches.

On top of that, most stretch laminates have very limited stretch anyway.

Posted: 17/09/2009 at 10:31