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When a brand commits to accessibility, end to end

On 14 April 2026, The North Face launched the Universal Collection. I have been turning it over in my head since, partly because the product is beautiful, mostly because the way they got there is the most complete example of accessibility-led design I have seen from a mainstream consumer brand in a while.

This post is about why this launch matters, and what it tells us about where accessibility is heading as a business discipline.

What they launched

The Universal Collection is a range of outdoor equipment built on what The North Face calls a “radically inclusive” design approach. It includes five products including their hero product the Universal One Bag (a zipperless sleeping bag). Each was developed in collaboration with adaptive athletes, and almost every detail in the collection was designed to remove a friction.

A few designs that stood out:

The Universal One Bag replaces the traditional body-length zipper with two FIDLOCK magnetic closures, the same mechanism used on ski helmets and bike accessories. It also features two insulated “wings” that can be arranged depending on conditions, giving the bag a useful temperature range in a single product. Rubberised touch-points and oversized loops on the hood drawstring make adjustments easy to find by feel.

The Universal Wawona 3 Tent uses three equal-length poles (no sorting by size in the dark), high-visibility pole sleeves, and easy-catch pole mounts. It has a wider doorway and a lower, contrast-marked threshold designed to accommodate wheelchair access, and a built-in rain fly that simplifies setup.

The Universal 20 Daypack stands up on its own, has a magnetic closure instead of a zipper, oversized pulls and grab handles, and an adaptive carry system that works whether the user is standing, seated, or attaching it to a wheelchair.

The Basecamp Mules have no left or right. They are interchangeable, with large pull loops for one-handed entry. The Horizon Convertible Brimmer hat has a roll-down sun shield and can be adjusted with one hand.

Each detail was designed first for adaptive use. The features happen to make life easier for everyone else.

Why the launch matters

A lot of brands launch adaptive products. Most do it as a side line, parked under DEI or CSR, with smaller volumes and smaller margins. Some even with the ‘wrong’ consumer groups. The Universal Collection is different in four specific ways:

1. Co-creation, not consultation. The North Face did not just talk to adaptive athletes. They built the line with them. Vasu Sojitra and Mo Beck were involved as design collaborators, not as endorsers attached at the end. There is a meaningful difference between asking disabled consumers what they want, and bringing them into the design process from the start. The first is research. The second is product development.

2. One line, not a separate shelf. The Universal Collection is sold as outdoor gear, not as adaptive gear. It sits within the main range, available through The North Face retail, partner retailers, and thenorthface.com. Adaptive features are not gated behind a separate purchase journey. The brand made a bet that good design works for everyone, and they backed it with their main product line.

3. Cost approachable. This one is easy to overlook. Adaptive products typically carry premium pricing, which keeps them out of reach for the consumers they were built to serve. The Universal Collection was deliberately priced to be accessible. The Wawona 3 Tent is $435. The One Bag is $270-280. In the brand’s own words, the collection is “cost approachable, allowing more user groups the opportunity to participate in outdoor recreation with reliable performance gear.”

4. Beautiful design. This one is myth bust. Products with the tag accessibility often gets associated with boring designs. This line by TNF is anything but boring. The colours, materials, and cuts are top trending.

This is what accessibility-led design looks like when a brand actually commits to it.

The four consumer groups this lands with

The Universal Collection seems to be landing across at least four distinct consumer groups. Each one finds different value in the same product:

• The die-hard outdoor enthusiasts, the connoisseurs of the craft, recognise the engineering quality. They notice the magnetic closures, the structural choices, the materials. Their endorsement carries weight, because their approval is hard-earned.

• The regular adventurers, the solo travellers, the families, the friends going camping for the weekend, recognise the relief of not fighting with their gear anymore. The small hassles of zips and poles and packs add up, especially after a long day. Anything that removes them is welcomed.

• The not-quite-outdoorsy crowd recognises a lower barrier to entry. The gear that always seemed slightly intimidating is now intuitive enough that the experience feels reachable, rather than a project.

• The consumers who have been deterred by mobility or dexterity barriers recognise that the product was designed with them in the room. Not designed for them as an afterthought. Designed with them as the starting point.

Mo Beck, the adaptive athlete consulted on design, put it best in the launch materials: “This is the first time we’re seeing accessibility innovations starting with the adaptive community and flowing up to everyone else, rather than the other way around.”

One innovation, four consumer cohorts, all reached without compromising the product for any of them. That is what the curb-cut effect looks like in 2026.

Why this matters strategically

Accessibility done well is a multiplier on three commercial outcomes at once.

Reach. A product designed for the hardest use case naturally serves the easier ones too. The total addressable market for an accessible product is larger, by definition, than the same product designed only for the median user.

Loyalty. Adaptive consumers are an under-served, high-loyalty segment, because most brands ignore them. When a brand serves them well, they become advocates. Their networks (family, caregivers, communities) compound the loyalty effect.

Innovation. Constraint-led design produces sharper products. The features built to solve for the hardest case (magnetic closures, free-standing packs, tactile cues, simplified poles) end up being the features that everyone benefits from. The constraint becomes the source of innovation, not a limit on it.

This is the case I keep making for treating accessibility as a strategic lens, not a compliance task. The Universal Collection is one of the cleanest live examples of that case.

What other brands can take from this

The temptation, looking at a launch like this, is to copy the output. Make an accessibility line. Add adaptive features. Run a marketing campaign with disabled creators.

The harder, more valuable move is to copy the process.

The Universal Collection didn’t happen because The North Face had a good idea about adaptive products. It happened because somewhere in the organisation, someone made the decision to treat accessibility as a design lens rather than a product category. That decision then had to be operationalised across research, design, testing, manufacturing, marketing, and retail. Each function had to do its part.

That is the part most companies struggle with. They can launch one product. They cannot get five functions to coordinate. They cannot keep the discipline running after the launch fades from headlines.

The brands that figure out how to embed this into the way they operate, not just the way they launch, will be the ones building real category-defining advantage over the next decade.

A word on where this is heading

The Universal Collection is one launch. The pattern it represents is bigger.

Apple has been doing this in software for years. Microsoft has been doing it in gaming and AI tools. Nike has been doing it in footwear. The North Face has now done it in outdoor equipment. The accessibility-led design story is moving from a few exceptions in tech and footwear to a wider category shift across consumer goods.

The brands moving early are getting the easy wins. The brands moving in the next two years will catch the wave. The brands waiting for regulation, deadline pressure, or competitor moves will pay the highest price for the smallest return.

This is the kind of work I do with leaders thinking about where accessibility belongs in their business, and what it would take to integrate it across product, service, and consumer experience. If any of this is on your mind, send me a note. Happy to walk through what it could look like.

Primary source: The North Face Universal Collection launch announcement, 14 April 2026, via VF Corporation Press Release and Outdoor Sportswire. Product details, designer quotes (Luke Matthews, Senior Technical Equipment Designer), and adaptive athlete quotes (Vasu Sojitra, Maureen Beck) verified from this source.

Earlier posts on accessibility as a strategic lever are on this Substack. The frameworks behind the work live with Purple Inc.