VF Corporation subsidiary, The North Face, today announced the appointment of several designers in the company's research design and development department.

Karen Lugossy DesJardins returns to The North Face as design director of outerwear and snowsports after spending four years at Marmot Mountain Ltd. As head designer of technical outerwear and fleece at Marmot, she developed the company's outerwear concepts, technical specifications, engineering elements and features."The North Face is the most well known technical outdoor apparel and equipment company in the outdoor industry, and I am eager to bring my experience back to the company and develop new technologies, designs and products into its authentic outerwear line," said DesJardins.

DesJardins brings to The North Face over 16 years of experience designing outerwear for various outdoor apparel companies. Prior to her position with Marmot, DesJardins designed The North Face's Extreme Gear (skiwear) and RTG (snowboard apparel) lines. DesJardins also consulted for Descente Ltd, a skiwear company based in Japan. She has also designed outerwear and skiwear for Hard Corps Sports, Club Couloir Actionwear, and Mr Jax Fashions Inc. Additionally, DesJardins owned her own business of skiwear design and manufacturing which was sold to Mr Jax Fashions Inc. in 1987.

Jim Sadler joins the company as equipment designer, while Robert Tuggle joins as Tekware® (sportswear) design director and Derek Patterson as graphic designer. Sadler founded Skunkworks, Inc where he established material and manufacturing design services to action sports companies such as Billabong, Leedom, and Franklin Climbing. Prior to his position at Skunkworks, Sadler was the snowboarding apparel and accessory designer and product manager at Burton Snowboards. Sadler's diverse knowledge of the outdoor adventure market as well as his knowledge of materials, manufacturing and product design will bring resourceful and innovative equipment concepts to The North Face line.

As Tekware® design director, Tuggle will develop innovative athlete-tested technologies and designs into The North Face's sportswear line. Prior to joining The North Face, Tuggle was design director of men's and women's apparel at Columbia Sportswear Company. In this position, he was responsible for the direction and design of all Columbia's men's, women's and youth sportswear, golf apparel, and the Gear for Rugged Training (GRT) line. Prior to his position at Columbia, Tuggle designed and developed sportswear lines for Redsand beach volleyball apparel and Punch junior sportswear. Tuggle has also designed denim and collections for Paul D'avril, BUM Equipment and Unionbay.

As graphic designer, Patterson will design and manage the overall graphic development on The North Face's products. In particular, Patterson will focus on The North Face T-shirt business, apparel and equipment labels, and embroidery. Prior to this position, Patterson was an apparel and graphic designer for Signal Apparel and UMBRO, and has also designed apparel artwork for Adidas. In these positions, Patterson developed textile fabrication, technical fabric elements, graphics, seasonal colour palettes, fit, and overall design.

"With the addition of Karen, Jim, Robert, and Derek to our design team we are more equipped than ever to design the best outdoor equipment and apparel," said Michael Egeck, president of The North Face. "These individuals each bring to The North Face specialised design talents and an overall knowledge of this industry that will become apparent in our technologies and styles moving forward. These valuable additions to our RD&D department reaffirm and promote The North Face's commitment to authenticity, technology and innovation of premier outdoor products."

About The North Face
The North Face, a subsidiary of VF Corp, was founded in 1966. Based in San Leandro, California, the company offers the most technically advanced products in the market to accomplished climbers, mountaineers, extreme skiers and explorers. The company's products are sold in specialty mountaineering, backpacking, and skiing retailers, premium-sporting goods retailers and major outdoor specialty retail chains. Additional information about The North Face can be found on the company's website, www.thenorthface.com.

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