Reuters
- My fondest memories of Eddie Bauer aren't about its clothing.
- Its partnership with Ford Explorer created an iconic SUV.
- Brand deals like this feel historic now that autonomous vehicles make driving a lot less personal.
Eddie Bauer's business is on life support, so I think it's time to honor its achievement in the automotive industry.
No, that's not a misprint. You can have your flannels and your fleeces. For me, Eddie Bauer was at its best on the open road thanks to its partnership with the Ford Explorer.
I realize you might think this is a goof, but I'm dead serious when I tell you the Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer edition had a vice grip on suburban life of the mid-90s and early 2000s.
Leather seats! Wood trim! Power features! A two-tone paint job! And the pièce de résistance: the Eddie Bauer signature on the back.
Yes, the partnership just amounted to a premium trim. Yes, Ford's relationship with Eddie Bauer pre-dated the first Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer edition in 1991. And yes, Ford wasn't the first (nor the last) to partner with a brand to upsell its vehicles.
Scott J. Ferrell/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
But as someone who was there, the Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer just felt different. Translation for the Gen Zers: It had rizz.
(I didn't personally own one, which is also another example of why this car was indeed cool.)
These days, that concept might sound foreign. In a world where humans are doing less of the actual driving — subscribe to our newsletter, Driverless, for more on that — cars feel more like a tool than an extension of your personality.
When I asked my younger colleagues — Grace Lett and Amanda Yen — about what a comparable automotive partnership would look like in 2026, I got blank stares. "I don't really think about driving," one said.
I guess that makes sense considering youngsters aren't even bothering to get their driver's licenses.
The swagger of a Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer edition didn't come cheap — a 1991 Ford Explorer two-door XL SUV cost $14,926 while the Eddie Bauer edition was $19,143 — but people didn't seem to mind.
"Customers come in and ask to see the Eddie Bauer version, and it's almost sold on sight," Pat O'Brien, a general manager of Mullinax East Inc. in Willoughby, Ohio, told The Plain Dealer back in 1991.
Other car makers took notice. Subaru ended up spinning up its own partnership with … wait for it … L.L. Bean in 2000,.
All heroes must retire, and by 2010, the Eddie Bauer brand had lost its luster (and plenty of business), so the partnership ended.
Now you can find used ones on Carfax, priced from $1,500 to $10,000. (One seller has theirs listed at $99,999, but that seems ambitious.)
The legacy of an outdoor brand partnering with an automaker lives on. Jeep and North Face teamed up in 2024.
But neither of those brands feels as representative of the current era as Ford and Eddie Bauer did at the time. And to be honest, maybe none ever will.