I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Our office is pretty quiet today – but we do have this adorable visitor, Mandy :) Our email marketing manager rescued her, I think she’s one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen!
We’ve been gearing up for holidays for quite some time now, and the release of our November lookbook (staring models Linda Vojtova and Ruby Aldridge) confirms that the festive season is finally upon us. It’s a magical time of year that inspires a uniform of glitter and glitz. Everywhere you look ladies have out their best eye-twinkling sequins. Parties are lined with shining gems in head-to-toe metallics – catching the light and bouncing back an elegant glimmer. The world, for two months or so, becomes spectacularly hypnotizing exactly like this book. Which look whisks you off into the twinkling dreamland?
We lost power in our office! We’ve been sent home for the holiday but I’ll be back Friday – and keep an eye out for a post with a rundown on what some of our stores are doing for Black Friday :)
Hope you all have a very happy holiday full of family, friends and good food!
First up, Free People is coming to Michigan! Troy, MI, to be exact, and we’re celebrating with a grand opening party all day long tomorrow (10AM – 9PM)!
They will have cookies and coffee and a beautiful new store to shop! For more info and to RSVP check out their facebook event.
Also opening tomorrow, Free People Water Tower Place! They will be celebrating with a holiday party and treats from 6pm-9pm!
Plus, with the purchase of any holiday sweater or dress, you’ll be entered in a raffle to win a $50 FP gift card!
Our head intimates buyer is one stylish lady who knows what she likes and sticks to it. Two of those things definitely seem to be platform shoes and oversized tops. She pulls the two together in a modern hippie sort of way. It’s chic with free spirited accents, like a vintage print or edgy hand piece, thrown in. Her hair is almost always down and perfectly tousled to top off the look.
Stars & moons on her nails!
The fur bomber makes the look (similar style here).
This month we’ve been exploring some of the decades that inspire the fashion we see and love today – Paris in the 1920s, America in the 1950s, Morocco in the 1970s – all leading up to today. The twentytens and the modern girl, who mixes together all of the little pieces that make her who she is – her various inspirations, quirks, ethnicities – turning them into something entirely unique to her. It couldn’t be more fitting, then, that the modern section of our catalog featured a flag by artist Sara Rahbar.
I posted some of her flags on the blog a little while back… i was fascinated by them, and love the idea of a flag being made up of many elements that represent different places, ideas and stories. Read on for an interview with Sara and to learn more about the flags in her own words.
When did you first come up with the concept behind your Flag Series?
It was in 2005 when I was studying at central saint martins in London, it was for my final project… And I never thought that it would be a series, I thought that I would just make one.
What are some of the materials that you use to make your flags, and where do you find them?
I use anything that inspires me, anything that I am excited and passionate about, and anything that is “sew-able”… there are so many objects that I find that I love and want to use, but they are too large or too heavy for sewing, it has gotten to the point that the objects have completely taken over. I think that’s why I’m starting to do sculpture now.
As for where I find my materials, well just about anywhere that I can, and I mean ANYWHERE. I go to the most bizarre places to find things… from bazaars in Tehran, to flea markets in Pennsylvania, from Vietnam vets to little old ladies on the street… I see a million things and I pick two, editing is very important.
I am just as passionate about the objects that I find, as I am about making the work and the final outcome. Gathering these items is such an important part of my process.
What is the meaning behind the particular flag used in our catalog shoot?
There is never any one particular meaning, these pieces are like pages in a book, they are like pieces in huge puzzle.
This work is very personal for me and it’s a direct reflection of my life. In the end I am just a human being talking about my life to other human beings, the work is just an outcome of the way that I view the world and others around me.
It’s about falling, standing and attempting to survive it all. In the end we are all in exile, we are all just visiting and we all come to this earth alone and we leave alone. But while we are here we try so desperately to belong to something, to someone and to somewhere.
Art often inspires fashion. Does fashion ever inspire your art?
Yes, sure it can, anything can inspire me, anything can spark something, trigger something. The most random things can inspire me; there really is no rhyme or reason to it, it’s just instinctual.
What people have had the most influence on you and your art?
Wow this is a very difficult question for me, mainly because a million different things inspire me every minute of the day, and I have a really bad memory and cant keep track of it all. My mind is a very overwhelming place to be sometimes… that’s why I jot things down a lot, to get them out of my head so that I can make room for new things to enter.
But there really are an endless amount of people that inspire me, from film makers, to artists, to writers, to my mother and brother… the list would really go on, and on, and on…
What does Free mean to you?
Being free is just a state of mind.
If you were to create a flag inspired by Free People, what would it look like?
I couldn’t tell you that in an interview, it all comes to me very instinctually when I’m making the work. I could only show it to you when it’s done. It’s an unexplainable moment, flickers of colors and shapes, I have learned throughout the years to trust my instincts, and let them guide me.
Personally I feel that it loses something when I talk about it, I believe it all happens in the making of the work. I could try to make a piece about Sylvia Plath’s poems, but what would be the point…her words are powerful enough on their own. I think good work, really good work, moves you beyond words.
So inspiring. I love what she said about having to write things down to make more room in her head – I feel that way all the time. To see more of Sara’s amazing work, visit her website.
“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?”
My birthday was last week… its funny how as you get older, you start to worry about birthdays more, and want to acknowledge them less. I’ve always felt that the day itself doesn’t really hold much significance, but whenever it comes around I think of it as a time to reflect on the past year, and also think about the year ahead and what I want to do with it.
My dad got me a new camera. As someone who once aspired to be a professional photographer, and built a darkroom in his parents basement, he appreciates photography and has always been incredibly supportive of my little “hobby.” I’ve taken photography classes in the past, but with film, not digital – and this year I want to make a conscious effort to work on it.
So over the past week I’ve been playing around with the new camera a lot, and using it to capture little bits of what I’ve been up to…
My friend made homemade apple cider using tea-bags filled with spices (and a little bit of rum)… YUM!
And after several months of living in my current apartment, I FINALLY got around to hanging up some artwork! The fish is by my sister’s super talented boyfriend; one of my best friends had the painting on the left below done of my shore house –the sweetest gift I’ve ever gotten.
I spent some time yesterday working on a DIY with these fun colors of embroidery floss! Can’t wait to share :)
And lastly, I thought I’d share a few of the Free People items i can’t stop wearing lately! The velvet extreme flares are the most comfortable, luxurious pants I’ve ever worn – they’re getting a lot of wear this season. My sister got me the marled yarn pullover in this lovely wine color and it’s my new favorite sweater! And technically my Gola sneakers are from February of last year when we sold them before, but I still love them just as much today and am contemplating getting another color… put together these items make a cute outfit too!
And, my kitten Jam, who always wants to be the center of attention :)
Oh and to answer the question I started with… I think I would think I’m in my early twenties. How about you??
Our featured artist this month is certainly appropriate for the time of year – Erickson Beamon creates a universe “where glittering snowflakes freeze into delicate drop earrings, black roses bloom on bangles, a brave new world is being charted out with yards of pearls and the duchess of fabulous rules the roost”
Their work is the epitome of statement jewelry – they create pieces that not only compliment an outfit, they become an important part of it. The rings we are featuring by Erickson Beamon scream holiday party – they truly do look like crystals of ice that will add the perfect dazzle to your holiday outfit.
I love Erickson Beamon’s artistic approach to jewelry design – for their spring/summer 2012 presentation at fashion week they created a lush garden scene called “Back to Eden,” that housed four incredible mannequins covered in their baubles and designs. They’re incredible!
I’ve had the pleasure of going to one of our catalog shoots, so I know first-hand that our catalog team is amazing and so much fun – these photos definitely capture that spirit! Behind the scenes from our holiday catalog shoot :)