New Style Idea

TikTok star Francis Bourgeois is bringing his love of trains to fashion—thanks to Gucci x The North Face’s second collection.

The Italian luxury brand went full steam ahead to the trainspotter’s native United Kingdom for its new campaign. Filmed at Oakworth Station in the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, the collaborative video featured Bourgeois as a train conductor leading cars filled with Gucci x The North Face models. In true Gucci fashion, the film is saturated in colorful vintage filters reminiscent of the ’60s and ’70s.

“Please remember to take in the exquisite scenery as we go by,” Bourgeois says over the intercom as Gucci-clad models draw hearts on train windows, pore over maps and wave outside, steam whooshing through their fingers. The TikTok star is fully in his element, wearing a dapper conductor’s uniform while checking tickets, blowing whistles and pushing a food trolley.

As for the clothes themselves, The North Face’s signature puffers have received the Gucci treatment in palettes of green, black and beige, covered in the house’s signature “GG” logo. Knitwear in similar colors is emblazoned with “The North Face” logos and layered over splashy multicolored floral blouses. The second collaborative collection is also peppered with its house monogram, forest and floral prints across joggers, puffer vests and and accessories, including bucket hats, beanies, backpacks and belt bags—even fashion-forward water bottle holders.

On the footwear front, Gucci collaborated with The North Face on co-branded boots for their second collection. Presumably as efficient at navigating hiking trails and metropolitan streets, a key visible style included a lace-up silhouette with thick ridged soles, cord laces and large Gucci x The North Face logos on its sides. Though a sharp black colorway was the most visible, the style was briefly glimpsed in a bold orange hue as well.

Gucci is the latest fashion brand to tap viral TikTokers as campaign stars. In recent months, other social media influencers on the video app like Wisdom Kaye, Addison Rae and Charli and Dixie D’Amelio have starred in ads for Coach, Pandora and Hollister. Other facets of the industry have followed suit; this year, Men’s Fashion Week has similarly seen digital stars Amelie Zilber, Nils Kuesel and Blake Gray sitting in the front rows of brands like Etro and Prada. How this continues into the 2022 season, especially with Fashion Month mere weeks away, remains to be seen.

See Gucci’s Year of the Tiger collection campaign.