Feb 10

Feb 10 The North Face Himalayan Parka 7SE (2019)

Alex Rakestraw

GORE-TEX, Lifestyle, Parka, Review

The North Face 7SE Himalayan Parka GORE-TEX

Frostbite? Don’t even know her.

The North Face 7SE Himalayan Parka (2019)

Type: Parka / Use: Lifestyle / Face: Nylon / Insulation: 800 fill down

Technologies: GORE-TEX Infinium Windstopper

Price: $649.00

Fashion’s equivalent of dorm room philosophy is a blindly indulgent galaxy-braining wrapped in the guise of taxonomy.

“But, like, dude,” asks a twelve-headed hydra bearing every English tailoring derivative from Brooks through Taylor Stitch. “What is a lifestyle brand?”

Bong rip. Exhale. Really_makes_you_think.jpg

Yes, Virginia, there is vagueness there. From our first breathe to our last, technically, everything we do is #lifestyle. Ergo, the products we use to do those things could be considered to come from - wait for it - lifestyle brands.

But that’s fucking useless, innit?

“Lifestyle,” in common understanding, is indeed a catchall. It refers to something made not for any explicitly functional purpose. It is used in contrast to “performance.” It gives direction, and therefore, serves a purpose. To borrow from a philosopher perhaps not covered in 101: “Words are never ‘only words’; they matter because they define the contours of what we can do.”

Which is why I struggle - struggle, dear reader, strug-g-g-g-le - with calling The North Face’s 7SE Himalayan Parka a lifestyle piece. Despite the #fly patches (and some domesticizing changes from its Summit Series cousin), this might as well be a 7000m belay parka. It was sold to city audiences through sneaker boutiques as part of the “7 Summits” streetwear collection. But it’s an absolute fireball - and frankly, just might not belong at sea level.

Let’s start with the basics.

The Himalayan Parka, in any of its variants, is an oversized, GORE-equipped, bomber-style down jacket made for superlative warmth. A GORE Infinium Windstopper outer cuts external chill. Fistfuls of 800 fill down stoke internal heat. Chest pockets, slash pockets, and a mortgage lender’s supply of adjustments leave no functionality to question. In short: the Nuptse GT3RS.

Functionally, it all works as intended. You will be very, very warm in this jacket. I do not - nor could not - wear this with a even a midweight midlayer. T-shirt? Ace! Wool sweater? No! French terry crewneck? You’re pushing it.

A silver lining is that, because of this tropical heat index, the Himalayan almost begs to be worn open. Ice winds will make all but the most devoted shiver - but on a calm day, a jacket that shuts out other layers when zipped can do an ace job of showing them off. I did feel like Mase and/or Biggie. But hey, fashion is silly. Which might just be the lede here.

Wearing the Himalayan around New York City feels just plain ridiculous. Between the vibrant color, retro patches, and South Park cut, it is walking attention. I loved the feeling - not shitting you, my deli guy told me it was a “super nice jacket” the first time I ever wore it. Little did he know, said super nice jacket was sweating me out after 2 minutes inside because I wore it with a hoodie in January.

On K2, you need this heat. On the 2 Train, it’s just too much.

Like another absolute unit - Fjällräven’s Expedition Down Jacket - there is a place for the Himalayan as a pure style statement piece. It can make for a fire emoji outerwear finish to any winter fit. And, in all fairness, there are some functionality points awarded here for the Windstopper/double-zip/hip-cut combo. It shouldn’t, however, be the only parka you own.

The Himalayan 7 Summits is just not versatile enough (nor specifically-overpowered enough) to justify being the singular “warm jacket” in a closet.

So [rips bong]... like, what is it?

In summary, it’s a wolfhound in a studio apartment. It could survive in the wild - but compared to its full-teeth cousin, it couldn’t go too far. It can survive in the city - but come on, this isn’t its home. Sure, it looks badass when it goes out on walks - but for most of its days, it’s somewhere in between what it was made to do and a series of compromises that have prevented it from doing just that.

What a lifestyle.