When you think of The North Face, leather will likely be far from your mind. However, the Colorado-based outdoor brand has leaned into the material in recent years for more luxury-forward iterations of its jackets and backpacks. But now, its iconic Base Camp Duffel gets the leather treatment, and it’s honestly hard to believe it comes from the same brand that once helped pioneer the urban-outdoor crossover style over three decades ago.
A Bag Born on Expedition
The Base Camp Duffel traces its roots to 1978, when it started life as soft luggage made from laminated vinyl built for expedition-level abuse. By 1986, TNF upgraded it with water-resistant ballistic nylon, and it became the go-to bag for porters, yaks, and camel caravans hauling gear across some of the world’s harshest terrain. Over the decades, it earned its stripes and has become one of the most ubiquitous bag lines in the world. That legacy is baked into every version that follows, including this one.
Leather Gets Serious
Leather is relatively new territory for The North Face. The brand spent decades prioritizing synthetics like nylon and GORE-TEX before making a pivot a few months ago when it launched “The Leather Pack,” a collection that reimagined icons like the Summit Series Down Jacket in sheepskin leather alongside backpacks and other accessories. The Base Camp Duffel Leather is the next step in that direction, and arguably the most significant one.
Crafted from full-grain leather throughout, the bag retains the familiar silhouette of the standard small Base Camp Duffel, with leather extending to the shoulder strap, grab handles, and even the removable ID tag. The result is arguably the best-looking bag we’ve ever seen from The North Face. While the brand has always been known for imbuing style into its gear, this leather duffel is decidedly more Loro Piana than Lower Haight.
Where It Trades
The leather version does quietly shed a few features found on the original. The compression straps that help cinch and stabilize internal loads are gone, and so is the end-cap pocket, which is albeit a particularly useful pocket amongst EDC enthusiasts like us. Neither omission is a dealbreaker, but they do tell you something about who this bag is for. No longer an expedition duffel, this is a travel bag for someone who wants something a little (or a lot) more elevated.
The daisy-chain lash points survive the upgrade, which is a nice nod to the original’s DNA. Inside, you still get a large main compartment with a mesh zip pocket on the lid.
Spec Sheet
Model: Base Camp Duffel Leather (NF0A8GU5)
Shell: Full-Grain Leather
Lining: Mesh zip pocket (interior lid)
Capacity: ~50L
Dimensions: 20.1″ x 12.6″ x 12.6″
Shoulder Strap: Detachable, adjustable, alpine-cut
Edition: Limited, numbered 1–900
Origin: Made in Vietnam
Price: $619
Pricing & Availability
Found at retailers like Haven, the Base Camp Duffel Leather is available now in North America and Europe, priced at $619 — a $500 premium over the standard model. Only 900 bags will be produced, each individually stamped with its edition number on an internal tag. If you missed the initial drop, TNF plans to release it in Asian markets starting June 1.
Recap
The North Face Base Camp Duffel Leather
The North Face just dropped a full-grain leather version of its iconic Base Camp Duffel, limited to 900 numbered units at $619. It trades a bit of the original’s technical utility for a cleaner, more refined look, but the heritage is still very much there.
