Best The North Face Nuptse releases: history and limited editions

The North Face Nuptse is a puffer jacket from 1992 that went from expedition kit to one of the most copied pieces in streetwear, and its limited editions with Supreme, KAWS, Extra Butter and INVINCIBLE now sell as collectables. Below we explain where the hype comes from, where to buy a plain black Nuptse in pounds (prices read on 13 November 2026) and what stands behind each limited release we looked at.

The short version

• Origin: the Nuptse launched in 1992 as part of The North Face expedition system and is named after a Himalayan peak.

• The one you see on the street: the "1996 Retro Nuptse", a return to the classic 1990s cut with horizontal baffles and 700 fill goose down.

• Plain black Nuptse in the UK: END listed the men's 1996 Retro Nuptse in black at £299, JD Sports at £250 (reduced from £315, marked "Reduced to clear"), and The North Face at £315.00 (all read on 13 November 2026).

• Limited editions: we cover nine limited models, from the yellow leather Supreme jacket of 2017 to the KAWS releases of 2022 and the INVINCIBLE collaborations.

• Source warning: several dates and counts differ between sources, and one StockX listing showed the wrong colour. Each case is described below.

Why the Nuptse is such a hit

There are several reasons and they work together. The first is the silhouette: wide horizontal baffles of down make a shape you recognise from across the street, and the short, boxy cut sits well over a tracksuit, jeans or cargo trousers. The second is credibility. The Nuptse was not invented as a fashion item but as a jacket for people who work in the mountains, so wearing one means wearing a piece of that story. The third is culture: the jacket entered the wardrobes of East Coast rappers in the 1990s, and rapper Notorious BIG name-checked the brand in one of his songs. Later generations took it over, from British football terrace culture to current streetwear.

The fourth reason is practical and often overlooked: a Nuptse is simply warm and light. The brand specifies 700 fill goose down, which keeps heat and packs down small, with a water-resistant nylon shell. Our conclusion, not a brand statement, is that this mix of function and an iconic shape explains why interest in the Nuptse does not fade after one season, as it does with a jacket from a single collaboration.

History: from an Everest expedition to the street

In 1987 The North Face director of equipment Sally McCoy took part in the Snowbird Everest Expedition. That experience led to a line of garments named after peaks and glaciers in the region. Five years later, in 1992, the brand introduced the original Nuptse, named after a Himalayan peak and designed as part of the Expedition System, a layering set for high altitude. The key innovation was baffle construction that limited the shifting of the down.

In 1996 came the version the brand still returns to as the "1996 Retro Nuptse". It is the one you can buy in shops and the base for almost every collaboration. In 2022 The North Face marked 30 years of the Nuptse with a limited collection in three variants (TNF Red, TNF Blue and a TNF Black 1992 print), with a 1992 patch on the right sleeve and an inner panel showing the Fall 1992 catalogue cover and the story of the model.

What the Nuptse is made of and how to pick a size

The main data from brand and retailer descriptions: 700 fill goose down, a water-resistant nylon outer, and horizontal baffles. Sizing is where sources disagree, because some describe the model as relaxed and others as regular fit, and we did not test it on our own copy. A sensible approach, and this is our conclusion: if you plan to wear it over knitwear, follow the manufacturer's size chart, and for a closer fit check the shop's chart and its returns policy before you order.

Where to buy a plain black Nuptse

In the UK we confirmed a product page, a price and a working Soleback affiliate link at two shops. END listed The North Face 1996 Retro Nuptse Jacket in black at £299 on 13 November 2026, with no original price shown. JD Sports listed the black Nuptse 1996 jacket at £250.00, down from £315.00 (a 21% saving), marked "Reduced to clear". The page did not say which sizes are in stock, so check your size before you count on that price.

For reference, the official The North Face UK page gave £315.00 for the men's 1996 Retro Nuptse on 13 November 2026, so the JD Sports price was £65 lower and END's was £16 lower. The North Face is not a Soleback partner, so we link it only as a price reference: The North Face UK.

Cashback: the END page on Soleback showed up to 3.5% as the default rate and 1.5% on discounted items, and the JD Sports page showed up to 3.5% with 1% on sale products. Because the JD Sports jacket is marked as reduced, our inference is that the lower rate applies to it, so confirm it on the store page before ordering. Both pages carry a "last updated" date of 16 April 2026 under a November 2026 heading, so treat the rates as indicative. A discount code from outside Soleback can block cashback, so check the Soleback vouchers first.

The most interesting limited editions

For each edition below we give the history and the date. StockX is only a link target and a source of dates here. It is not a Soleback partner, so we cannot promise cashback on it. We leave out resale prices on purpose, because they change by the hour and we did not read them in pounds.

Supreme x The North Face Leather Nuptse Yellow (Fall/Winter 2017)

Supreme and The North Face have worked together since 2007, when the streetwear brand reworked Summit jackets. Since then there have been at least a dozen collections, and according to some sources more than twenty (the sources disagree on the count, as we note below). The leather Nuptse of Fall/Winter 2017 is one of the best known. The whole jacket is cowhide leather, with both logos on the right sleeve in black and white against the bright body. It was made in three colours, and yellow was considered the most sought after.

Release date according to StockX: 19 October 2017. Supreme x The North Face Leather Nuptse Yellow on StockX.

Supreme x The North Face By Any Means (2015)

The "By Any Means Necessary" series is a collection in which Supreme and The North Face referred to the slogan of the same name, and the Nuptse came in three colours: black, red and yellow. One reviewer later noted that these Nuptses appreciated in value more than anyone expected. Most sources date the release to 2015, but some assign it to the Fall/Winter 2014 season. We cannot settle this, so we give 2015 as the most cited year.

StockX links: black, red and yellow.

Supreme x The North Face Nuptse in green and blue (Fall/Winter 2024)

The Supreme x The North Face collection of Fall/Winter 2024 returned to a clean Nuptse in strong single colours. The StockX page for the green version gives the season as FW24 and a release date of 17 October 2024. For the blue version we have a caveat: the page behind the "blue" link showed the title of the red FW24 version while mentioning blue in the description. Our inference is that both belong to the same drop on 17 October 2024, but we have not confirmed it independently, so we link it neutrally.

StockX links: green version and blue version.

KAWS x The North Face Retro 1996 Nuptse Black (2022)

KAWS, the artist Brian Donnelly, made two collections with The North Face in 2022, and the Nuptse was their icon. The black version has abstract artwork over a water-repellent nylon shell. The first drop reached the market in February 2022 (one source says 17 February, another says January) and the second, in autumn, came out on 25 October 2022. We did not confirm which drop this black jacket belongs to.

KAWS x The North Face Retro 1996 Nuptse Black on StockX.

Extra Butter x The North Face Technical Difficulties (2017)

Extra Butter is a New York sneaker boutique that in December 2017 held a pop-up with The North Face and a "Technical Difficulties" capsule, inspired by nostalgia for lo-fi television and the VHS look of the 20th century. Everything was exclusive to the Extra Butter store. The multicolour Nuptse from the collection is one of the most distinctive puffers because, instead of a single colour, it carries a bold graphic print. We did not confirm the sale date of the jacket itself, so we give only December 2017 as the month of the pop-up.

Extra Butter x The North Face Technical Difficulties Nuptse Multi on StockX.

INVINCIBLE x The North Face Printed Nuptse Multi

INVINCIBLE is a Taiwanese streetwear brand that has worked with The North Face for several seasons. We found three capsules in the series: Expedition in December 2019, the Backstreet line in early 2021 (inspired by The North Face as one of the most coveted streetwear brands of the 1990s) and Metaverse Explorer in November 2021, with a synthwave look. The multicolour printed Nuptse comes from this collaboration, but we did not confirm which capsule it belongs to. That needs verification.

INVINCIBLE x The North Face Printed Nuptse Multi on StockX.

Where the sources disagree

• By Any Means date: most sources say 2015, some Fall/Winter 2014.

• Number of Supreme x TNF collaborations: some sources say more than 20, others more than 40.

• First KAWS drop: 17 February 2022 in one source, January 2022 in another.

• Fit and size: shop descriptions conflict, with the model called regular or relaxed.

• Blue Supreme Nuptse: the StockX page behind the "blue" link displayed data for the red FW24 version.

• Cashback pages: the Soleback store pages show a November 2026 heading but a "last updated" date of 16 April 2026.

• KAWS jacket material: descriptions give different details of the shell.

How reliable the sources are

• High: the official Supreme and The North Face pages, the price listings at END, JD Sports and The North Face UK (read on 13 November 2026), and the release dates on StockX for the leather jacket and FW24.

• Medium: Hypebeast, Highsnobiety, Complex, Clash and Outside, which describe the history and collaborations but differ on some dates.

• Low: third-party shops and product descriptions, which supplied some material details.

• Our conclusion: linking the INVINCIBLE jacket to a specific capsule, treating the blue and red FW24 drops as one, and the explanation of why the Nuptse does not date.

What to buy depending on your situation

• One jacket for every day: the black Nuptse is the safest choice, and on 13 November 2026 JD Sports had it at £250, the lowest price we read in the UK, if your size is in stock.

• You like colour, but not too much: check the other colours on The North Face UK page, which lists Burgundy Crush, Caraway Seed, Pacific Teal, Summit Navy and Smoked Pearl at £315.00.

• You collect: the Supreme leather jacket from 2017 and By Any Means from 2015 are the oldest of the editions here, while KAWS and INVINCIBLE are newer, more artistic options.

• You want a limited edition: check condition and size, because a resale price has to be verified yourself before you buy, and we do not give one here.

• You want to save money: look at the Soleback promotions and check whether the cashback on the black Nuptse at END or JD Sports is current on the store page.

Before you click an offer, see the Soleback promotions, and you can buy the black Nuptse at END or at JD Sports with a chance of cashback.