The North Face Verto becomes the season's style-forward climbing sneaker

The North Face's Verto Approach Shoes come in a $190 model and a $230 waterproof GORE-TEX version. The brand designed both pairs with members of its athlete team, and they read slim, sharp and purposeful, not like a chunky fashion sneaker dressed up in hiking language.

The standard Verto leans hard into that low-profile shape. It uses an athlete-validated suede upper, a Vibram Megagrip outsole, an internal midfoot stability shank and a 3/4-length ESS rock plate. The geometry matters too: a 20 mm heel stack with a 6 mm heel-to-toe offset keeps the profile close to the ground, while the weight stays around 13.5 ounces per half pair. The shoe is built for long approaches, hikes, vertical terrain and via ferrata, and it looks just as convincing under washed denim or technical trousers as it does on a trail.

The waterproof version pushes the formula further without blowing up the silhouette. The Verto Approach GORE-TEX Shoe swaps in a 400D Dyneema ultra-high-tenacity ripstop upper and a GORE-TEX OAK XT 3L bootie, with a liner made from 71 percent recycled material. It comes in at about 14 ounces per half pair, only a slight step up from the standard model, which keeps the shape sleek instead of clunky. The North Face sources 100 percent of its leather from Leather Working Group-certified tanneries.

Village PM has turned a climbing-shoe-inspired skate shoe into its first sneaker, while LOEWE and Zara have each taken their own swing at the low-profile mountaineering look. The North Face's Verto arrives in standard and Gore-Tex forms with four color options split across the two styles.