I know most of you are crafty, some of you even run your own businesses or sell your wares on etsy. In any case, I thought I'd pass along the info about Fred Flare's Next Big Thing contest. They're looking for artists, crafters and designers to submit products to be sold on Fred Flare. Get lots of exposure, new wholesale opportunities, and maybe a $1000 too! check it out...
We have been working on these for a long time, and they are finally ready for you! We fell in love with a vintage umbrella we bought on ebay and have worked to replicate the shape, and then of course add those special Free People touches...
The umbrella is really great quality, made by a fantastic umbrella company. It's smaller than your typical umbrella, but supported by 16 ribs instead of 12 (that gives it the vintage look). We designed the screen print on the heavy weight nylon and here in Philly, we added the strips of fabric woven through the inside.
I think the natural color makes a perfect parasol for sunny days too! Check em out here...
I thought it might be fun to give a little "sneak peek" inside the Free People home office by showing you some of the workspaces of our employees. Everyone has made their spaces so personalized, and in visiting many of the desks around the office, I definitely noticed a trend. So many people surround themselves with gifts from friends. The friends we make here at work are cherished relationships. So you'll definitely see lots of silly presents...
So this is Maura's desk and she is the creative assistant. She likes to surround herself with things that make her happy at work.
One of her favorite thing is one of those wobbly bugs a coworker brought back as a gift from Mexico.
And she has lots of Free People artwork gone awry. She works closely with our graphic designer, and ends up accumulating some of the mishaps. Does this look familiar from this Holiday??
It was too good not to show you...
This basket is so perfect for the city girl with a bike. Called the "Carrie" designed by Marie-Louise Gustafsson for Design House Stockholm, it's available this spring. They sell to quite a few design stores in the states, so maybe you can call the one closest and beg them to order it. The best part is, the basket is easily removable and doubles as a shopping basket. Very handy for grocery shopping or the farmers market...
Found via Oh Joy!
Apparently, there are people obsessed with making pom poms. And apparently, they are actually referred to as "pon pons". And apparently, there is a blog about it! And if you share this obsession, maybe you should join in on a ponathon...
Found via fly...
Preen is a new fashion mag that just launched and will be produced on a bi-monthly basis (that means once every two months, right?). So far, I'm into their aesthetic and like that it only costs $5.99. Because all of the other good magazines are $20. They seem to get that free spirited fashion enthusiast that's not so into all the "high fashion" glitter. After I get through it, I'll be sure to share some of the treasures I find among the pages. For now check out this short video intro they did...
There was a very strong scent in the halls of the home office the other day. It smelled of the lovely scent of a Free People store, but times 1000!
Ever wonder what that lovely scent is? The display team makes these little sachets out of muslin. The scent is a pot pourri of dried flowers and herbs. They are tucked away in hidden corners of the stores. It was time to replace them in some of the stores, so the girls had tons of the pot pourri and were hand tying each little bundle. So now you know...
These incredible lacey chain link fences relate to the same ideas as some earlier recent posts like crafty grafitti and natural beauty. The idea of contrasting ubanity with nature, or with the organic qualities of craft is a very relevant association with Free People. These works of art share a relationship with the Free People design philosophy to connect current design with the roots of traditional handicraft...
Designed by Dutch team demakersvan and going into production in India.
Found via happymundane
"Table the label and wear your own name." It seems Mr. T was supporting DIY fashion way back in the 80's. This video featuring styling advice from the man in chains is a gem... I promise you will laugh out loud.
Found this on stylebites
ABC Carpet & Home is hosting a "month long journey exporing the essence of the spirit, culture, color and artistry of India". Judging by their website, they have put so much into this, and it sounds like it's going to be a truly amazing month.
They'll celebrate Indian foods as well as health and beauty traditions, but what sounds most appealing is the daily demonstrations of indigenous craft presented by celebrated artisans from India. Learn the arts of vegetable dying, stone carving, ancient weaving techniques, different embroidery methods, block printing...there's a huge list. The work of the artists will be displayed in a gallery within the store.
Like ABC, Free People has a certain connection with India, and believes in supporting the crafts that have been handed down from generation to generation. (Just look at our store interiors) And on top of that constant relationship we share, India is also inspiration for one of our upcoming trends. More on that coming soon...
A Free People coworker introduced me to this blog Dirty Sugar Cookies (thanks Heather!) and I just think it's hilarious. You may know Ayun Halliday from her monthly columns in Bust or her quarterly zine, East Village Inky. But it turns out she has some culinary skills and a few books under her belt as well. I like that she posts random photos loosely connected to the recipe she's presenting, and her "borscht on tumeric" color scheme truly burns your eyes.
Spotted this post on love forever
about Ulrika Erdes and her public embroidery graffiti. She encourages embroidering on public upholstery, such as bus seats and library benches. Email her and she'll send you a pattern!
The idea reminded me of a post a while back on coolhunting about Knitta Please, a group tagging public spaces with knitted bits attached to traffic poles, trees and street lamps. (I've noticed them featured several times since then) The group is based in Texas, and even maintains a myspace...
The Free People Valentine's Swap is coming to an end. I just received my gift today! I can tell swapping is going to be addicting. I feel like I could start a mini art collection this way...
So above are some of the photos from the swap. There are a hundred more here... Leave the swappers some comments. They made really incredible stuff. And keep on the lookout for the next swap. We have to do this again. Anybody have any good ideas for the next theme?
Wanted to point out how great these illustrations are. One of our designers/ incredible illustrators drew these babes to express our Pool Party trend. We used them internally for wholesale lookbooks, and then our web team worked them into the website as well. The look so very Pool Party against the vintage floral prints. My favorite is the girl on her side with her tiny belly. Check em out on the web here.
Our favorite non gossip celebrity blog whowhatweardaily recommends our wide leg jeans! What they didn't mention is that they are made by Goldsign, designed by Adriano Goldschmied, formerly of AG fame as well as for work with Diesel and Replay. Goldsign is famous for his fit as well as his hand wash and hand stitching techniques. Like a lot of Free People products, all that hand touch means each piece is a little different. Check em out...
Check out this public art display that just went up in Battery Park in NY. Artist Ugo Rondinone created these trees by casting two olive trees in rubber. The work is an exploration of the "themes of time and displacement, and the relationship between natural and artificial environments." I love how fantastical they are, like an enchanted forest in the middle of concrete...
found via coolhunting.
The display team describes the inspiration as a light, ephemeral glimpse of a spring day. They had a crazy three weeks putting all of this together and it came out really amazing.
One of the display girls hand painted all of the ballerinas. She did similar paintings of these girls (sans tutus) for another display and the paintings are currently decorating our offices.
The tutus and garland samples were made and developed by our team here and then one of them went to India to work on production.
The paper garlands are stapled to the ceiling. There are about 200 strands of paper garland in each store.
The hanging ballerina's in the tutu's are just hung on dummy busts from the store and hung on chain attached to the ceiling. The ladies are wearing Free People camis with their tutus.
Speaking of store display (see entry below), here is our new spring window display! As you can see, ballerinas play a role in this show. Look out for the next post with more detailed pictures and inspiration info...
Clicked onto etsy today and saw this collection of map inspired items. The collection was handpicked by theseawithin. I especially love the origami butterfly. The collection reminded me of our travel theme for the store display and our embellished maps.
The swap has started! Some crafters have even already posted pics in the flickr group and they look completely amazing. I'm sure everyone will be finishing up this weekend and getting their goods in the mail. So check back to see the progress.
If you're swapping and haven't joined the flickr group yet, please do! I know there's still about 100 people that haven't joined yet.Then everyone can see your swapiness and you can chat with other swappers!
Cathy Horyn, fashion writer for the New York Times, started her own blog about a week ago. She did this really great post on Alber Elbaz of Lanvin, documenting an issue he had with this super futuristic polyester fabric. They made a digital flipbook of his sketches and the construction steps he took in creating a dress from the trouble fabric. It's really interesting to see the problem solving involved. I also really love seeing his sketches and the process of developing an abstract idea. Hopefully sometime soon, I can get some similar information to share from our FP designers!
Alber says...
