Gucci x The North Face and a Trainspotting TikTok Star

In one year, a niche TikTok star went from sharing his passion to being a fashion ambassador

Jamie Cohen
Marker
Published in
3 min readJan 20, 2022

--

Oakworth Station — Gucci x The North Face — Francis Bourgeois: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcHYVjWn-TI

“I’m about to have a ride on a 2MT. Come join me,” says the smiling TikTok star Francis Bourgeois, who’s wearing his train conductor coat with the pin of his favorite train, the class 456. At first, this TikTok video looks like one of Bourgeois’ usual #TrainTok videos, but as the beaming Bourgeois enters the station, his entire outfit switches to a The North Face x Gucci fit. He spins around to show off the outfit and you can tell his smile is genuine. The fashion blog High Snobiety converted the wholesome TikTok trainspotter to streetwear icon.

You may not think streetwear when you think The North Face, but in a collaboration with Gucci, the outdoor-wear company teamed up to create a “pop-up” with the posh Gucci brand and mashed-up comfort and high fashion. But if that wasn’t surprising enough, the campaign made Francis Bourgeois the face of the rollout.

Francis Bourgeois is the TikTok name of 21 year old Luke Nicolson who lives in North West London. He’s a super passionate TikTok star who comes off pretty unassuming. Under his @Francis.Bourgeois TikTok account, he’s amassed over 2 million followers by producing incredibly wholesome trainspotting content. While most people know the term “trainspotting” from the 1996 Danny Boyle hard-drug, drama film starring Ewan McGregor, Bourgeois is the real deal: he truly loves trains.

Many recognize Bourgeois’ videos by his use of a 360 GoPro camera strapped to his forehead while he goads trains into “playing their tones.” The technique results in a unique and kind of hilarious reaction angle. In our never-ending hellworld of social media, Bourgeois’ sincerity and genuine joy are quite a bright spot.

--

--

Jamie Cohen
Marker
Writer for

Digital culture expert and meme scholar. Cultural and Media Studies PhD. Internet studies educator: social good, civic engagement and digital literacies