Happy Halloween! Do you need a Napoleon costume? Check out our snowjoggers! I'm just kidding about the Napoleon bit, but seriously, check them out. As comfy as your favorite sneakers, and they'll keep the snow out too. They come in an icy grey and a fun multi color combo.
I'm sure you all have Halloween candy on your minds, but there is a different kind of candy spirit going on here. The Free People elves have been working hard to prepare for our holiday store displays. Here are some pictures of the progress of the gingerbread houses being made here in the office. Lots of girls from diffferent departments have stopped by and are helping out the display team since everyone is swamped in holiday spirit! Take a peek at the festive beautiful houses, and the candy that abounds as supplies.
The accessories designers have been the number one culprits in stealing candy. Since they're accessories designers, the display team told them it would be like them coming over and eating their sequins, sparkle trims and Ipod holders. They still have a sweet tooth though.
More to come as the holdiay displays get installed in the stores!
So I promised to introduce you to the amazing designer responsible for the new look of freepeople.com and the Free People blog, aka the Caravan of Curiosities...
His name is Ed. Ed gets Free People, and we had an awesome time working with him. I asked Ed if he wanted to say anything about working with the FP crew, and this is what he said...
"The Free People folks are so great to work with because they embrace the quirky and playful things that others dismiss. The Caravan of Curiosities idea sounds odd to say it out loud, (“Ok, so there is this blue hare that runs through Europe and Tibet and Alaska and Africa, and there’s a moose, and a cow and a monkey and some birds…”) but FP was just like, “Yeah, that sounds fun!” And it was."
Thank you Ed! Above are some of the working drawings Ed did while creating the new blog design. If you want to check out what else he's been up to, check out his site, edmullen.com
The title of this post is, so far, my favorite comment about the new site! What do you think? Make sure you all click on the curtain tassel in the upper right corner to see new places the magical blue bunny can take you. A feature on our fantastic web designer is coming soon!
I published a post back in June about a blog list, a great collection of blogs on the subjects of creativity and design. Guess who just got added to the list! Woo hoo Free People! Check out the list or download a PDF and get to exploring!
We would like to share a little background info about one of our favorite jewelry designers, Candace Ang.
Candace Ang is and artist and designer based in Los Angeles. Formally trained in fashion design at Parsons in New York, Candace has always remained true to her first love – Jewelry. Her namesake jewelry collection is an eclectic reflection of what she finds fascinating that season, from silk and crystals to laser cut Lucite and vintage chains, the line is as interesting and varied as her inspirations. Her bold approach is certainly not for wallflowers and the underlying style of each collection is distinctively branded in her own “edgy – romantic “style.
Candace says, “My vision for the collection is to take what I love in high fashion, pop culture, vintage and even the decorative arts and create something new in jewelry. I think there are so many unexplored materials outside of the regular beads and gemstones. While these elements are beautiful and classic, I would like to push perceptions and make jewelry that is a true statement piece. For me, jewelry is just another art form that you can wear. “
How does one mix all those elements in daily life? Candace says, “In fashion these days, there are no lines. You can wear street with couture and no one would blink an eye. It’s all how you put it together that makes ones individual style. One day I can wear a punk rock look and the next I’ll be in a vintage dress with heels. “
Available at Free People is Candace's Double Fleur Necklace and her Falling Chandelier Necklace. There are more pieces from Candace Ang coming in soon, so keep an eye out!
Check out these incredible key chains we have, just in time for Halloween! And the String Doll Gang has powers.
Ghoulish critters handmade using one continuous piece of string, each with their own special power to help you get through the day.
Crazy Eyes: helps you track down whatever it is you are looking for
The Vampire: protects you from harm when you're out past your bedtime
Big Voodoo: how you use is entirely up to you
Scratch: helps you keep your cool when the heat is on
Little Frank: watches your back when you're out of your element
Mr. Mummy: helps keep the skeletons in your closet where they belong
We've been working on improving freepeople.com. Check out the new design! We've rearranged some things, and hopefully made it a lot more user friendly and easier to navigate. Click around and tell us what you think!
And the new blog design is coming soon!
Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the Free People blog!!! Happy Birthday to us! Thank you all so much for reading, commenting and sharing. I'm so excited for another year and all the improvements we plan to make for our Free People community. Thank you all for being a part of it.
Here's a little sneak peak of our new Free People blog design. It's coming soon! We've renamed the blog area "Caravan of Curiosities". We hope this new area will help satisfy the fp girl curiosity and take you along on all of our creative travels. Look out for a new layout, cool animation, new videos section, and a few more extra features. More info to come!!!
How About Orange posted these free pumpkin carving patterns from World Wildlife Fund. Check her site, she also posted some other pumpkin carving sites. I did a google search to try to find really amazing pumpkins, but all I could find were pumpkins carved into creepy animals or presidents' heads. Does anyone have any cool links???
So I discovered this on Coolhunting posted by Lost At E Minor.
Start Mobile offers amazing new artwork you can buy to download to you cell phone. There are seriously hundreds of works. Here's a bit from their site...
START SOMA, the San Francisco gallery for emerging artists, today announced the launch of START MOBILE, becoming the first retail art gallery in the world to sell NEW ART for cell phones. Curated by START SOMA founder John Doffing, THOUSANDS of original works of NEW ART from HUNDREDS of the world’s most prominent emerging + underground artists can now be downloaded onto mobile phones across the United States. START MOBILE showcases the world’s premier emerging + underground artists, quite literally from A to Z. “START MOBILE features artists whose work is in museums + artists whose work appears exclusively on the streets - and pretty much everything in between,” according to Doffing. “We have created an unprecedented mix of creative talent from around the world, and their art is now available to anyone with a cell phone for less than the price of a cup of coffee.”
The accessories girls sent me these funny pictures. Believe it or not, these were used to make samples of accessories coming to a store near you. Enormous bags of glitter and a Mama Cass dress. They used the dress to line ipod cozies!
You're invited! Our Boston Free People store celebrates its one year anniversary this weekend! Come visit this Saturday and get a free gift before they're gone. Party goes on 10am to 10pm.
Check out Philly artist Katie Henry's opening this Friday of her whimsical stitched drawings. More info on her myspace!
One of our designers picked up these amazing dyes in Morocco. The purple one is from a particular stone found in the Atlas Mountains, and the blue one is true indigo. Beats RIT dye! The colors are so vivid...
One of our own home office FP girls plans this scooter rally in Philly, so if you gotta bike, check out the Rabble Rouser Scooter Club. Rally happening this weekend!
We would like to introduce you to jewelry designer Becky Kelso. We have been selling her jewelry since we've opened our first Free People store, and her rings have always been a favorite of our customers.
Becky grew up in a family of artists, studied fashion design in California, but never really took to sewing. She moved to Mexico and ended up as an apprentice to a jeweler. Here she learned silversmithing and found her true calling. Now Becky lives and works in California, making beautiful jewelry inspired by her life and travels.
Check out Semi Precious Faceted Silver Ring...
One of my favorite blogs, Poppytalk, has just launched a new project! Poppytalk Handmade is a monthly online street market to showcase, buy and sell handmade goods of emerging design talent from around the world. Click on a designer and see a selection of products plus links to their blogs, websites and etsy stores. Check it out!
Hi Swappers! Just wanted to let you know that sign up time is over for the Dark Fairy craft swap. It is a bit of a process to match up partners and email you, so I will send you a message sometime later this week. Thank you all for participating!!!