Rugged, Durable, American: The Values That Turned a Brand Partnership Into Bronco Filson

The return of the Ford Bronco to the lineup in the 2021 model year was one of the most anticipated launches the company has ever seen. And company leaders knew from the outset that there was going to be room for special editions, as we’ve seen over the past five years. But the Bronco Filson takes the iconic SUV in another direction, with a premium execution that stays true to Bronco and Filson’s rugged, American-crafted, and capable brands.

The connection between the two products was apparent early in the collaborative process, as Ford leaders learned that their potential new partner had been busy identifying their product’s core tenets with similar results to Ford’s own internal work.  

“This marketing person from an apparel company was talking about our vehicle in the same way we do, and they were thinking about how their brand was being represented. They thought it would be best represented by a 1966 Bronco,” said Paul Wraith, global director of design, who was chief designer for the sixth-generation Bronco and its variants. 

Finding the Right Fit 

The newest member of the Bronco family is a rugged premium off-road SUV. It has a specially tuned 3.0-liter EcoBoost engine, and it comes standard with the Sasquatch package, plus Fox shocks with internal bypass technology. 

Kellie Walters, worked on Bronco Filson as a color and materials designer before she became color and materials design manager for Ford Racing and Ford’s truck lineup. The team, which is responsible for selecting all colors and materials such as seat fabrics, quilting, body color, and wheel finishes, played a particularly important role in delivering a premium implementation of Ford’s venerable off-road SUV. 

Walters said Filson’s design language, color palette, and material durability all helped shape Bronco Filson, most notably in the use of the brand’s signature Filson (Otter) Green on seats, door trims, and the vehicle’s instrument panel. Filson’s use of antique brass was also incorporated for larger interior components and accents such as the steering wheel bezel and G.O.A.T. Modes dial, as well as the wheels and grille on the exterior. Filson-inspired woven fabric was used in conjunction with avocado tanned leather, Ford’s first use of the soft and sustainable material in a seating application. The SUV is also the first Bronco to include wrapped grab handles and instrument panel plus quilted and ventilated front seats.

This special-edition Bronco allowed Walters and the team to experiment with many of these elements.  

A Premium Bronco

The new SUV is not the first by-product of this relationship. The Ford-Filson partnership first yielded the Bronco Wildland Firefighting Rig, a Bronco fire truck variant with Filson-inspired materials and detailing in 2021, but the follow-up project that became Bronco Filson had to be a premium take on the SUV. 

Parts, like the new SUV’s grille, wheels, running boards, and bumpers, were 3D printed in the early going, but perhaps Wraith’s proudest moment of the program came when adding a Filson bag to the front doors of the vehicle to replace the netting seen in a typical production Bronco. Wraith and team sent a Bronco door to the Filson team, based in Seattle, and their designer sketched the new pockets for the doors, front-row seat backs, and the cargo area. When he brought it to Dearborn for a review, it fit perfectly, creating one of the SUV’s most authentic references. 

“That was one of the most exciting things that happened in this project,” Wraith said. “It sounds like a small thing, but … it just felt 100% like the right thing to do. It was a beautiful way to bring the two brands together.”

Styled with Filson design elements, the removable saddlebags feature customizable compartments allowing them to be utilized for daily use. Also, their linings reveal a Bronco Pony, affectionately known as “Bucky” by the design team, under certain lighting conditions. 

Getting a Feel for Filson 

Bronco Filson’s design was informed by customer insights that indicated a preference for durable materials and long-term use — integral to Filson’s brand promise of “Unfailing Goods.” 

Walters said that insight led the team to focus on using materials that combined visible wear and lasting durability. She and Ford’s Design team visited Filson’s headquarters in Seattle to get a deeper understanding of the brand. The collaborative process also included sampling materials and other Filson products such as watches, vests, and bags. 

“The collaboration with Filson was really great and seamless because we both have that priority of being dependable, rugged, and performance-oriented,” Walters said. “That gave us a really good basis to collaborate off of.”

A Shared Vision for Simplicity 

Ford and Filson also found common ground in their vision for sustainability. Both make products for the long term, and they are designed to be easily repaired, if needed. 

“There’s so much overlap there,” Wraith said, noting that its modularity makes Bronco suited for long-term ownership. “(Filson is) an authentic American brand producing desirable apparel and bags for outdoor living. Their products allow customers to enjoy the outdoors without destroying it.”

The development of the Bronco Filson was sped up by the SUV’s modular construction, which allowed production parts to be easily removed and replaced with bespoke components, Wraith said. 

“Typically, we do a lot of sketches, and we make clay models, and then eventually we might make something which looks like a real car,” he said. “We just leapfrogged virtually all of that process and went from doodles to what looks like a production car in one step. It was a very, very efficient piece of product development.”

Orders for Bronco Filson open this fall, with the SUV expected to hit dealer showrooms in early 2027. It has a targeted starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price in the mid-$70,000s. This summer, customers can get a first-hand look at the design and materials used in the new vehicle during the multi-city immersive Bronco Filson Tour.