Window Shopping - The North Face

If you're shopping for skiwear (or hiking gear, or camping equipment), The North Face are impossible to miss. Their market presence is undeniable: North Face is a byword for quality outdoor clothing that won't break the bank. I was talking to a friend last week who has just bought her second North Face ski jacket because, she says, the last one "was really comfortable and hard wearing considering how much I ended up in the snow". (She exaggerates; her skiing rocks, as indeed did the jacket).

Perhaps the flip side of the tried-and-trusted brand identity is that North Face gear can be a little bit... well, boring. The kind of gear that springs to mind is simple skiwear in safe, not too daring colours, and why not? - it sells. Jackets like the Stavros are very much in that traditional mould, and if your trusty black pants need replacing, TNF are a safe bet every time.

But times are changing, and some of the North Face gear on show last season hinted at more exciting things to come. Sure enough a look at this year's North Face

collection turns up some nice surprises.

The men's Drip Print jacket has a fantastic design that varies subtly from one garment to the next a

s the drips fan out. In the women's line, the '80s style Jitterbug down-filled jacket looks like it fell out of the wardrobe on Saved By The Bell - the last thing I expected from this label! Meanwhile best-selling La Fonda jacket with its detachable faux fur trim is more mainstream, but still nicely styled. The Nuptse vest is sure to do well on the slopes in Europe too.

If you're shopping for reliable quality, you don't need me to point you towards The North Face. But this year, it's definitely worth checking them out for some style surprises too.

Kate