have you seen our new november catalog? it's so pretty and full of light...
the inspiration behind this catalog, with the holidays quickly approaching, was the play of light and color in the images. i like it because instead of feeling dark and cold like a lot of holiday stuff, it feels very warm and soft.
to get these cool effects they strung christmas lights in front of the camera...something i might have to try.
you can view the entire catalog here.
our october catalog, which dropped yesterday, was shot in maine this year. here are some polaroids from the shoot that we thought you'd enjoy...
and here is our crew working and enjoying some food together.
for fp's september catalog, our creative director found some of her inspiration in jack pierson's book, desire/despair.
hope you all enjoy this catalog! curious who your favorite model is...
we just got a comment from lowra, re: recycling her july catalog.
check it out...
pretty sweet...
doub sent a few pics from their catalog shoot in california...
we can't share product shots quite yet, but here's our hair/makeup folks - johnny and nate - with model michelle...
and our stylist lauren...with a suitcase that has seen many, many parts of the world. this, i found out, was to be its last trip. :( hence her expression...
and our production assistant kara...rad.
we love our model elsa from the august 09 catalog...
and were super excited that our friend cat posted a pic of her on her blog today...
our friend jason ross created the cool, cool dog collar/leash featured on pg 34 of our august 09 catalog.
see more of what jason does at artemas quibble...
and here's talented jason.
we all love erin wasson...as you can see below.
but we're really excited to be working with the man who shot these photos -
david mushegain - for our december 09 catalog.
Our August catalog drops today and we are so excited! Shot at a quaint Pennsylvania farm, this is a very special book that has some very special models: the dogs and cats of The Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society! Many of our own pets were adopted from animal shelters, so this is a topic that really hits home for us! Our hope is that this book might help raise awareness of all the doggies and kitties that are hoping for good homes in shelters across the country!
Click here to find an animal shelter in your area! Also, don't miss Kevin's interviews with the animal models at the shoot! They are so cute!
Aside from our lovely animal models, another very special thing about this catalog was our photographer! For this book we were very lucky to get the photographer Dahlen. Dahlen is an amazing fashion photographer, and he has even shot Madonna! Check out this fun video of the master at work, at the shoot!
Hooray! Our July catalog drops today, and should be hitting your mailboxes any time now! We are so excited about this book because of the wonderful photographers we used! Lina Scheynius is a Swedish photographer who shoots with a free form, sometimes using polaroids! The more close-up studio shots in the catalog were taken by Crackerfarm Photographers, (who often work with us in our web studio as well) and these shots focus on the apparel that we love!
The locations we used for this book were an old brownstone house, and a photography studio in New York, NY. The old brownstone had fabulous old wallpaper, so the walls became a lot of the backdrops in the catalog!
As for apparel themes, jackets are a big part of this book – we love them layered with many items, or even over a simple top or dress!
Click here to check out the online version of the catalog!
I'm so excited to show you this little video!
Last week we shot the photos for our upcoming catalog in August, and we had some very special models! Our August book will feature some wonderful doggies and kitties from the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, also known as PAWS, in the hopes of raising awareness of all the sweet animals in shelters around the country who need a loving home!
Since the catalog won't be coming out until August, our intrepid Graphic Designer Kevin was on the scene and made sure to interview some of our furry models! Almost all of these guys and gals are currently up for adoption, so if you see someone you'd like to meet, don't be afraid to contact PAWS and let them know! My kitty is from PAWS, and he has made me and my boyfriend so very happy since the moment we met him! It's totally worth it!
Wherever you live, if you are looking for a furry best friend, be sure to check out your local shelter. They are easily found on the web or in the yellow pages, and when you get your friend from the shelter, you really are also saving a life! I can't imagine life without my kitty Homer!
Watch the models work it in the studio!
Our newest catalog drops today! We're super excited about this book and can't wait to hear what you think. We shot it in a studio rather than on location, stripped it down and really focused on the models and the clothing and the styling.
Check out the photos online (or check your mailbox) and let us know what you think! Some "behind the scenes" info coming at you tomorrow, so check back then.
Comments are now closed for the February catalog giveaway. The lucky winner is Priscilla! Her comment was randomly chosen by random.org and she wins these trinkets our creative director brought back from the photoshoot in Mexico.
Here was her answer to the question "What is your favorite thing about the beach?"
My favorite thing about the beach is the sounds. Obviously, the ocean waves, the screech of seagulls and small children, pieces of conversation... I am so ready for summer to be here already. :P
This was fun! The answers to the animal question were hilarious. Scroll down a few entries and read them all.
Lauren, our stylist, would like to tell you the story of our photo shoot for our newest catalog!
We shot our February catalog in Tulum, Mexico at the end of October, and stayed in a beautiful eco-hotel called azulik. Azulik is comprised of about 10 or so thatched huts that sit in the jungle, right on the beach- there is no electricity, so the room is lit by candlelight at night, and sunshine throughout the day. Each room had a bed that was covered by a mosquito net, a swinging hammock, and beautiful doors that led out to a porch that overlooked the ocean. It seemed like magical place to take a break from the world.
In November the sun sets in Mexico at about 530, so by 6 or so the little resort is pitch black and a little spooky. We would go to bed pretty early as we had to wake up at 430 to shoot at sunrise, and by 9 o’clock it felt like midnight as it was so dark. Doub and I shared a hut, and on our second or third night, I woke up to a loud clicking noise. Outside of our mosquito tent, I could see something fluttering- (we slept with a candle burning) and I assumed it was a moth, and tried to go back to sleep. But the clicking continued and it seemed that the moth was insistent upon getting in our tent! I caught a glimpse of the thing in the candlelight…it was a bat! I woke Doub up and told her that there was a bat in the room, and she reassured me that we were safe in our little tent. She made me feel a little better, though I didn’t sleep well that night as the little bat was clicking all night long.
When we woke up in the morning, we realized what the bat had been doing all night long..on the table was a bunch of bananas that had been completely hollowed out and eaten!!! The little thing had a field day and demolished nearly all 3 bananas. We looked around the room, and realized the bat had pooped everywhere. Everywhere. Especially on top of our mosquito tent. There were little bat poop pellets all over the floor, table, and every other possible surface you can think of.
After that night, we were too creeped out to sleep in our hut anymore, so we slept with our hair and makeup artists, Monica and Deanna, on their little hammock bed. We didn’t even have a mosquito net! We didn’t care though, so long as we didn’t have to sleep in that bat-poop hut.
GIVE AWAY FUN:
Our art director picked up a few fun trickets while in Tulum, and she'd like to give them to YOU!
Just leave a comment with your answer to one of these two questions and we will pick one commenter by random. Make sure to include your email address!
Question #1: What animal would you NOT want to share a hut with?
OR
Question #2: What is your favorite thing about the beach?
Here are a few behind-the-scenes pictures from our catalog shoot that is going on right now in New York City! I am so tantalized by the flowers! I can't wait until this catalog comes out! Enjoy!
I came across this article about the modern American farmer, and saved it for the release of our Farmer's Daughter catalog. The Morning News showcases the amazing photos from Paul Mobley's book "American Farmer: The Heart of Our Country" and an interview with the photographer that spent four years exploring the people that are bringing food to our local farmer's markets.
Scroll down the blog for more entries about our latest catalog.
Mackenzie from the Free People catalog team took these beautiful images during our Farmer's Daughter shoot. Check out the catalog and read about our inspiration for the book.
Our January catalog drops today! The trend concept this month is called Farmer's Daughter. Here's some info from Elsa on our catalog team:
"We shot the catalog in Epping, North Dakota. We found the location in a National Geographic article about abandoned towns of North Dakota. Basically, in the early 20th century, with railroad expansion, people moved to the prairies of North Dakota to homestead and hoping to make a life farming. Unfortunately the weather proved to be too harsh for them or their crops and eventually the people had to abondon their houses as well as most of their belongings.
These houses and barns remain standing to this day, and if they are owned by anyone, you wouldn’t know it as they seem to have been long forgotten. We worked with a woman in Epping whose family had come out to North Dakota by way of Ohio, and she took us to the homestead they made, a small cabin on acres and acres of land. We were also able to explore lots of other abandoned houses, barns, schools, and even a church. Each building contained remnants of lives left behind, things such as books, clothes, papers, letters, and furniture.
It was an unbelievable experience getting to see this, but we decided that shooting outside in the vast fields was much better for our trend. The land in North Dakota is beautiful and vast, and it felt emptier than any other place I have ever been."
Here are a few of the National Geographic photos, but check out the rest at the link. They are eerily beautiful...
Remember the super pretty hair wraps our stylist Monica did for the December catalog? Well we recently made a little video in which Monica shows us how we can make the hair wraps too!
To my delight, I got to have my hair be the example, so I had awesome wraps in my hair for a while! It was so fun! You guys should definitely try it! Find the tutorial below - enjoy!
We mentioned James Cooper yesterday when talking about the underwater shots from our December catalog, so we'd like to share some of his work too. Beautiful!
My favorite is the last one where it looks like some magical place between water, sky and earth. Which ones do you like??
The above photos are scans of the film from the December catalog. And some info from Elsa from the creative team...
For the December catalog shoot we decided to go to Bermuda. We used a really great production team called Volcanic Productions , who put on all kinds of music events and photo shoots in Bermuda. Crackerfarm shot the book for us, and the greatest part of the shoot was getting to take photos underwater.
One of the guys from the production team (James Cooper) takes beautiful underwater shots so he was able to lend us the waterproof casing that goes around a regular camera to shoot underwater. It was challenging to get good poses, faces, hair, and clear shots of the suits underwater, but it was REALLY fun.
Bermuda is a really cool place, and catching amazing sunrises and sunsets was so easy because there is a lot of beauty to be had there.
Dreaming of vacation? Get ready for the beach! Our new December catalog is online and will be in your mailbox soon. Check back for behind-the-scenes info to come...
Here's a few extra shots from our November Intimates catalog taken by photographer Chrissy Piper. (check out her site too!)
See the November Intimates catalog online.
Our November Intimates catalog drops tomorrow, so here's a sneak peak of the cover! And check out the video too:)
We shot this book in a studio in brooklyn...with Rosie (FP designer Mary Ellen's dog) making an appearance. Also got a homeless cat in on the shoot, who one of our hair stylists adopted when the shoot was through! This catalog was all about being sexy, confident, cheeky...feeling great!!
A few days ago, our customer service representatives received this little note:
Dear Free People,
I receive your catalogs in the mail...thank you. I have a question in regards to your November 2008 catalog.
On pages 25 and 35, is it possible for you to tell me what lipstick color/brand they are?
Thank you.
We asked our make-up artist, Deanna, to help us out with this question, and she told us exactly how she made-up the model's lips! I thought I'd share her answer with you:
Prepare the lip with a little Eucerin ointment- just enough to moisten the lip.
Then press Make Up For Ever Star powder (loose) in iridescent fuschia into lip, concentrating color more on the center of lips, then build to desired intensity.
Most Make Up For Ever products can be purchased at Sephora!
Thanks Deanna!
First a few behind the scenes pictures: shooting outside, a firefly (how Free People!) and the sunset in Virginia, the same location that we shot our We the Free catalog. They shot inside and outside of these abandoned houses. It rained a little bit, but they made the best of it!
Our photographer was Michael Dwornik from New York (a great guy and wonderful photographer!).
The props were all made by FP girls Mackenzie and Kara. They glittered everything! Pinecones and sticks all tied up with yarn
Yes, Halloween just passed, but our November catalog is here with lots of holiday goodies. Check out freepeople.com for our gift guide and some info on our holiday trend concept, Folk Princess.
We went to Lexington, VA...we stayed in that big beautiful house!!! (owned by our Art Director's friend) We didn’t have to go far for great photos, and we got to have a cook out with the whole “family”... We made some new friends.....Stoney (the husky) and Noodge (the kitty...because he likes to nudge you with his head)...Virginia was gorgeous. Nobody wanted to leave!
Today we release our October catalog with the complete line of We the Free. We the Free is a new collection of vintage inspired product that features relaxed fits and superior fabric qualities. It consists primarily of knitwear but also includes sweaters and accessories. We the Free includes the newest print techniques paired with both classic and edgy graphics, applique, hand-embroidery, and trims.
We the Free has a boy sensibility borrowing from military, athletic, work wear, and surf wear.
Check out the new book, the video and the new product!
Check out some of the additional photos from our September catalog; the inspiration we titled Rocker in the Park. The amazing photography was done by Cracker Farm.
For our September book we didn’t have to go far from home; we found the best park for any rocker, Central Park. For two days in May we rented a big trailer and parked wherever we could find space, one time right next door to Sheryl Crow’s much nicer trailer!
We arrived each morning before sunrise and ran around like crazy both days looking for new and interesting ways to showcase Central Park, and avoid getting too many bystanders in the shots. We saw Kramer. We had a great group of models and an awesome photography team that worked hard with us to avoid too much green grass for this fall book.
We had dozens and dozens of balloons delivered to us and brought along some fun bikes belonging to our photo team. We just really wanted to convey a fun crazy couple of days in a park in the middle of a big city. It was actually quite challenging; using man-made structures and populated areas always seems to pose more of a creative dilemma than simple beautiful nature shots.
Shooting in New York was fun for us, we even made time to stop by the Free People store. And in case you ever need it, we found out that you can have pizza delivered to you in the park. It was tasty.
It's time to check those mailboxes! The September catalog is arriving. If you're impatient, check out the book online:) More "behind the scenes" info to come...
You've seen FP girls create awesome jewelry and some very cute picture frames using their Free People catalogs. Well now have a look at this incredible journal made by Rebecca from Sudbury, Massachusetts - using, of course, Free People catalogs! It looks so good!
Here's a little note from Rebecca too!
Well, I live in Sudbury Massachusetts. There isn't much to do around here so I spend most of my time drawing, painting or just doing something creative. My real passion is photography and my dream job would be a photographer for National Geographic - I want to see all the far corners of the world! I'm currently a senior in high school and I hope to go to Connecticut College next year.
Some things that I love: lying in grass, the smell of art rooms, karma, dreams, cranberry and grapefruit juice, city lights, planetariums and museums, the universe and the thought of how something can be infinitely big, the smell of the ocean, hands, first snows, and meaningful conversations...
Thank you so much for sharing your journal with us Rebecca! It is wonderful!
Check out the video for our newest catalog, which drops today!
This catalog features the trend Proper Nomad, which mixes classic menswear and tailoring with more ethnic influences. The catalog also focuses on showcasing the many faces of the Free People girl! Enjoy!
For our newest catalog, which will be dropping this week(!) we thought it would be cool to have various volunteers around the office hand-write the catalog copy! Here is a little video showing everyone working on writing the catalog! We are so proud of this catalog and we're sure you will all just love it! Tune in a little later this week for our catalog video!
One of our stylists, Mackenzie, took some stunning pictures while she was on the last couple of catalog shoots! Here's a little note from her:
"We went to Virginia for the last two catalog shoots... and it’s ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL THERE!!!
Here is some proof!!!
We loved it!!!"
These pictures make me really excited to see the catalogs that were shot in Virginia! How beautiful!
Now, I don't want to overload you with videos today, but this one is so cute and funny I couldn't resist...
This video was taken during our shoot for the July catalog in France. Our catalog shooting team and models are getting ready for a long day! It was a very cold morning, and everyone was feeling kind of groggy. When they got to the first place they were going to be shooting, they blasted the car radio and started to dance and get pumped up! Enjoy!
Our newest catalog drops today and we are so excited! Check your mailboxes! Here is the catalog video to whet your appetites! This catalog was shot in Lyon, France, and kicks off our fall line for this year.
You can also check out the new catalog online!
Aren't these frames so cool? Recently we got an email from Free People girl Chelsea Wilcox, who asked us if we might like to see some picture frames she made out of Free People catalogs. We did, and we loved them so much, we wanted to share them with you!
Here's a little note from Chelsea, who is pictured on the right in the top two photos:
"I'm 18 years old and an avid lover of Free People clothes! I recently made a bunch of frames decorated with snippets from the two most recent Free People magazines. I just cut out all the designs I liked into squares and rectangles from clothes and patterns that were within the magazine. Then I placed the cut-outs on a photo matte-board that had been cut to place a picture inside. You don't really have to use a matte-board, a hard piece of cardboard would work as well. And, you do not have to have the matte-board pre-cut, you could also glue your photo in the center and work around it--but having it pre-cut makes the photo a lot more evenly placed!"
I think this is such a cool idea. Thank you for sharing Chelsea!
Check out this older post for another cool way to craft with Free People catalogs!
The other day I came across the Coastline Dress when I was browsing around our site, and now I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to get myself one as soon as I get paid. :-) I am so into the crochet bodice. Gorgeousness!
Thank you ALL so much for voting on which page in the May catalog you'd most like to see as a poster! We've never had so many comments, and we were so happy and interested to hear which ones YOU liked best! We are going ahead and closing down the voting now, so that we can get to work on creating the posters!
Pages 12 and 20 were the clear favorites, so we figured we would try and see if we can make posters of both pages!
We will be sure to include the art running along the side of page 12 (or actually 13) and also to keep page 20 simple, as it is already. I will also be sure to post more information about the poster or posters and how to get them as soon as I get it. For now just know that the posters are definitely in the works, and you will be able to get one soon!
You can also look for another chance to vote on which page to make into a poster after the next catalog drops! Stay tuned!
Thank you again to all who voted!
Suffice it to say I am obsessed with our V Neck Embellished Belt Top!
I did a bit of investigating and found that the pretty little shapely shell is the creation of our knit designer Melissa. The awesome embroidered belt was produced by Kris, who we recently featured in an employee profile. She found a printed vintage dress, and cut off a strip of it and sewed it over top of a belt. After that, she carefully sewed over the print to create the embroidery, and presto - the prototype for the belt was born!
Which page out of the latest catalog (May 2008) would you most like to see made into a poster?
Pick any page out of the catalog, whichever you like best!
Just put the page number of your choice as a comment on this post to cast your vote!
(If you don't have a copy of the May catalog handy, you can view a smaller version online here.)
Thank you for your help!
One of my favorite tees that we are selling right now is the We The Free Kitty Hawk Tee.
Something that tickled the curiosity of myself and my fellow Free People bloggers however, was whether the tee had been inspired by the fact that our home office is located on Kitty Hawk Avenue...
So I searched out the designer mostly responsible for the tee, Gabrielle, asked her-
and to my delight, the answer was yes! The print had been inspired by our humble street.
She also told me a little about the process of burning out a tee to make it thinner
and have that vintage feel.
They start with a poly-cotton material, then come up with a print or a set of areas they want to "burn out." You'll notice on these type of garments that some areas are thinner than others. The areas more thinned out have had a type of print applied to them which has a chemical that when washed, dissolves the cotton but leaves the polyester. After the fabric has been burnt out, it is dyed. Generally, after the dying is when the garment is constructed.
The screen print is the last thing added.
Enough with all the suspense. The May catalog drops today, so check yer mailboxes, or check it out online.
A little about this month's book...
Our May 08 catalog was based on a "by the seashore" concept... We'd been hitting up a lot of beautiful sandy beaches lately, so we wanted to explore something a little different.
Our senior stylist pointed us to the rocky beaches of central/northern California, especially the Big Sur area.
Anyone I've ever talked to about Big Sur has said nothing short of amazingly beautiful things about the place...so we packed up and headed west.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very cooperative - it was quite cold and rainy a lot of the time.
And to boot, our brunette model got sick during the first day of shooting, so we brought in a 2nd girl at the last minute.
But it was great using 2 different faces...
We took a 12-passenger van out on 17-mile drive, starting off each morning near our hotel in Monterey and then driving through pebble beach (we ate lunch each day at a deli in the middle of the golf course), then onto Big Sur.
Spent a lot of time looking over cliffs at what we thought were sea lions, only to realize quite late in the game that they were really giant pieces of seaweed.
We were a little bummed...
This was our first all-girl outing, by the way...photographer, assistants, stylists, etc. very exciting!!!
Almost the moment I posted pictures of the Big Sur catalog shoot for you all
to look at, I was informed that the catalog video had been put up on the
Free People Youtube! So I wanted to be sure and post it for you to see!
You can also find it (and all our other videos) here.
This catalog drops next week and we are all so excited! Enjoy!
Free People's new catalog will be dropping next week!
It was shot in the stunningly gorgeous Big Sur region of California,
and one of our stylists was kind enough to share a few pictures
from the shoot! Please enjoy!
Our April catalog drops today! Here's a little about the shoot from our creative director...
Our April book was based on a trend called “Mayan”, taking typical print/color palettes of that culture and translating them into modern silhouettes.
We’ve had great success working in Mexico in the past (January 08 book), so we decided to head back. This time, our production scout, Dominique took the team to Tulum...about an hour’s drive or so from Merida, where we’ve done most of our shooting up until this point. Tulum was gorgeous...white sand, green-blue ocean, teeming with lots of nomadic, free-spirited folks (including the guy on pg 6 and 13).
Most of our beach shots were taken there; the rest were taken on the road, driving to and from that location.
Very spontaneous shoot...and one of our favorites so far.
P.S. The headdress on the front cover was actually purchased in the Houston, TX airport. Winds forced our plane down, and the team wasn’t able to make its connecting flight to Merida...so we hung out for a long time, waiting for our luggage, and found this. Not Mayan, necessarily, but made for an awesome prop. :)
The March catalog is here! The book was shot in India in Rajasthan Desert's Neemrana Fort Palace. The palace is a hotel that many of the Free People designers have stayed in when traveling in India. Built since 1464 AD, Neemrana Fort Palace is among India's oldest heritage resorts.
The two trend concepts in this collection are Peace Corp Prep and Everything but a Flower. Peace Corp Prep is a mixture of traditional preppy styling mixed with Indian prints and colors, lots of plaids mixed up with Indian florals. Everything but a Flower is print driven, inspired by all things geometric, both vintage and modern.
Check out the catalog video ...
On the back of our last catalog, we challenged you to recycle the paper in a creative way.
We received the most amazing note via email. One customer took our challenge and used the pages of our catalog to create this awesome jewelry. We are so impressed and surprised at how she re-purposed the book. Great job Ashley!!! You can buy these pieces and more at Ashley's etsy store or befriend her on myspace!
Did anyone else see that challenge on the catalog? Anybody else do something creative?? Leave your email in a comment!
Above are some "behind the scenes" photos from our photo shoot in India, featuring some of the people our team met along the way...
And here's a little message and info about our featured model, Yulia.
"Say hi to all the Free People big kiss. i'm 19 years old, Born in St Petersburg, Russia but moved to London when i was 6 years old and have lived there ever since. i have been modeling for 3 years, full time for 2.
i love working with Free People because, I get to travel to amazing locations with wonderful people. We recently traveled to India to shoot a catalogue. It was beautiful, unlike any other place i've ever been. I love wearing the clothes and accessories, they are really fun, very comfortable and wearable in day to day life, there are pieces for every occasion. I always say that I wish their entire collection was my wardrobe. There is always a great atmosphere on set and we have a lot of fun working together. I always look forward to working with and spending time with the whole Free People crew its really a lot like hanging out with friends. big kiss yulia xx"
Check out the February catalog featuring Yulia here.
The February catalog drops today! The book was shot in Jaipur, India. Our theme for this collection is "I Want Candy" translating into yummy, sugary, candy colors and embellishments of plastic stones and gems.
We were inspired by this Japanese travel book following one single girl's experience. You'll notice we only used one model for this book. Her name is Yulia. Stay tuned for an interview with Yulia and some behind the scenes photos...
Natalie commented on the January catalog post asking what the deal is with the We the Free product featured in the new book. We the Free knit line is an eclectic collection of tops, t-shirts, and heavy weight styles that features relaxed fits, superior fabric quality and washes, and thoughtful artwork. We the Free offers a rare combination of the newest print techniques pared with both classic and edgy graphics, applique, hand embroidery, and rugged trimmings. We hope this collection will charm you with its special details and unique sensibility.
Basically, this is a new line of high end knits with amazing fabrics, art, dye and print techniques. The aesthetic is a little bit more tough and boy inspired. So what do you think???
See all We the Free product here
Our January catalog drops today! The collection was inspired by Spain and we shot it in Mexico. It was shot in 2 locations near merida, mexico...
The first was a restaurant owned by a lebanese man who’s lived in and ran
the same restaurant for over 40 years...the second was a hacienda refurbished by our production scout and her husband, which is out in the countryside...complete with horses, dogs, chickens, baby boars (and an unexpected tarantula)!
Check it out online and watch the behind the scenes video... The music is a song called "Rector Street" by Levy.
Our new December catalog is inspired by Hawaii's tropical vibes, exotic flowers, and aloha spirit. We loved hibiscus flowers and floral prints in all different sizes and colors. We also added touches of sporty elements like stripes to add contrast to the floral prints. Punchy colors like oranges and ocean blues are splashed throughout the line. Silhouettes are casual, light, and airy. The Hawaii collection is all about easy dressing. Whether you are packing it in a suitcase to travel or just going out with friends, pieces are easy and comfortable to wear.
Our team shot the catalog in Florida (no they didn't get to go to Hawaii), lucking out with beautiful sunrises and gentle surf...
Check out our new December catalog and be sure to check out the video too! Behind the scenes info on the new book coming soon!
The art for our November catalog is mostly inspired by the same fabrics and trims that were inspiration for the clothing. The creative team used the fabrics as a starting point and painted them in watercolors and ink. Once they started painting, they developed a looser approach to the representation, and resulted in the beautiful backgrounds you see throughout the catalog.
The November catalog is here, so check those mailboxes. You can view it online and be sure to check out the "behind the scenes" video from our trip to India.
Our assistant creative director wrote a little about the inspiration our designers found in Tibet and their experience with the catalog...
"After our designers' visit to tibet last year, they returned with stories of how warm and accepting the people were...doub and maryellen were even taken into a shop and dressed to the nines in native garb as a crowd of onlookers watched. We wanted to share with our fp community the impact this culture had on those 2 designers. Their dress code may not be intentional, but we found it so beautiful and in its genuinity, we hoped to express those sincerest of ideals in our book. And therefore travelled to a tibetan village in india, and while there, we met and made many friends who were just willing to share their lives and experiences with us for a few days.
There's probably more I could and should convey, but it was so truly magical for myself and our team. Funnily enough, I was reading through the journal I kept there, and came across the story of the family who made us butter tea for the first time..."Experiences like this make my life worthwhile, and restore validity in humanity."
See a few more photos we took on location below...
Our November catalog drops this week! Our inspiration was based on Tibet. Our crew travelled to northern India in the Himalayas of Leh-Ladakh (sometimes called "little Tibet") for this book. It was quite an experience for our team. The altitude was one thing they had to get used to, at one point being 18,000 feet above sea level. They found they had to move really slowly, which is difficult on a photo shoot, especially when some of the best shots usually come spur of the moment or at the last minute.
They found the people of the town to be extremely hospitable and welcoming. One family even made the girls cups of yak butter tea. yum. These photos are some the "behind the scenes" shots. Enjoy!
The catalog is dropped and should be in your mailbox! Here's a little more info about the two trend concepts going on for September...
DARK FAIRY
Nature's beauty, mystery, magic, and mystical elements are the
inspiration behind dark fairy. Deep, dark forests and whimsical fairy
creatures are manifested into a print driven line that explores nature's
dark side while still allowing the light to shine through. Colors are
deeper and darker with bright accents. Embellishments like sparkles and
glitter intensify the dark color palette and add unexpected detail.
SPORT
Inspired by retro athletic apparel and accessories, the sport collection
mixes elements of masculine design with girly accents. Mixing classic
ski and sport fashions with crafty elements create a look that is truly
hand touched by fp. Graphic prints, stripes, and color blocks are seen
throughout the entire collection setting the trend. A mix of black, red,
kelly blue, and green compose the color palette.
It's about time to get a new craft swap going. What do you say about going with the theme of Dark Fairy. We could expand upon the idea to to reach into fairy tales and gothic stories... Any thoughts? I'll update you soon on how to sign up for the swap and more details!
Here's a little intro to our new September catalog dropping on Monday!
The two trend concepts for the collection were Dark Fairy and Sport. I'll tell you a little more about each trend next week. We were really inspired by this photography book called "A Fairy's Child" by Ann Dahlgren and Douglas Foulke. We loved the book so much, we contacted Douglas and asked if he would be interested in shooting our catalog! He agreed and he and his wife shot our catalog at their home in Connecticut. (The photos above are from his portfolio on his website...)
As far as art direction, the creative team was really into old books, bindings, bookplates... One of our creative assistants did the fairy painting above on the pages of an old book, and then painted lines over the text too. Below are just some other old books we looked at for ideas.
So we received this anonymous comment on one of the August catalog postings...
"I think you guys should do a write up in the blog on how to tie scarves! There are so many new beautiful scarves in stock now and there put on the models in such a neat way, I would love to know how its done."
What a great idea! Some girls from our creative team made this little video for you, with one of our web stylists showin how it's done. Enjoy!
We got a comment asking for more of the watercolors from the catalog. Most of them have been chopped up at this point, but here is one more that is still in tact. Enjoy!
hayley was blue.
blue hat, blue coat, and big bouncy blue curls.
jane, she was violet.
violet hair, violet velvet maxi coat, and violet eyelashes.
betty was yellow.
yellow trench, yellow sunglasses, and yellow canary
feathers in her yellow hair.
the decade that swung.
never knowin what was to come.
i felt alive in these frocks.
all dolled up for a swingin’ party.
walkin down london streets
platform shoes
twiggy legs
skippin to the beats.
mini skirts, mini cars
big life and bright stars.
young, fancy, free
my heart belonged to biba,
but my love belonged to me
...written by one of our fp girls to put the trend inspiration into inspiring words...
On it's way to you, our August catalog! The inspiration for this collection is a mix of art nouveau, mod and glam. Kind of dark, decorative and beautiful... Our catalog team was in London a few months ago, on their way out to shoot the Grunge Princess July catalog at Vintage Vacations. While in London, they met up with some friends at a restaurant. The atmosphere was so amazing there and they decided it was perfect for their next shoot! They also scouted some other locations, a private home and a beautiful park.
Here I've posted a couple of books the creative team referenced for inspiration to do the graphics and illustrations. They were looking at a lot of art nouveau artwork and ornament.
And here is one of the original watercolors painted by one of our creative assistants. Amazing, right? Check out the catalog online, and check your mailboxes!
Want s'more behind the scenes info on our new catalog? Well, I've told you that the trend concept is Grunge Princess. This idea is how the inspiration for the artwork came about. All of the little drawings and color swatches are done in crayon and colored pencil. They are slightly juvenile looking to me, the way I might have doodled in my notebook the first time grunge was cool. Very Sassy magazine like. And the swatches of color also relate to the idea of patchwork and afghans. Then there are all the scrolling designs and flowers, to meet up with the "princess" part of the trend.
Our photo team took a bunch of cool photos with a Holga camera just for fun. The photos turned out really cool and we ended up using them to border a lot of the pages. These are all the negatives and the images with the blurred edges you see along the sides and in the backgrounds throughout the catalog.
The July catalog is coming! We called the trend concept "grunge princess" The video is already up on our site, so check it out. Our assistant creative director wrote this little note for you, to tell you all about the shoot...
ironically enough, it was a posting that our fpgirl put on the blog that led us to vintage vacations. (remember??)
that’s the name of the “camp” on the isle of wight – just off the coast of southern england – where we shot our grunge princess catalog...
helen, the woman who runs vintage vacations along with her husband, bought an airstream trailer from ebay and had it shipped to her.
and then vintage vacations was born.
situated on a plot of farmland (owned by farmer ted, I think) on the isle, the property now hosts 5 trailers which folks can rent out for friends/families/photo shoots.
we spent a lot of time photographing on vintage vacations’ property, in and around the airstreams which helen kitsched up herself with help from local flea markets/shops.
she and her uncle drove us out all around the island, too...full of hills of sheep, endless fields of flowers, beautiful rocky cliffs.
it’s an amazing place, for sure.
and no day was complete without helen’s tea and scones with clotted cream (absolutely delicious).
Check out our new May catalog!!! Keeping along with our travel theme, this trend concept is inspired by Asia. Here's a little blurb written by our assistant creative director describing some of the process for this shoot...
our asia collection was inspired by quintessential asian-themed prints and colors...pattern and color everywhere...
we decided that, after returning from puerto rico for the africa book, we wanted to keep this shoot more local...(and besides, didn’t have a budget to travel to asia
to document...well...asia). so, we gathered up inspiration pix and, with the help of our creative assistant, learned how to make huge tiled backdrops from them...
which you’ll see we’ve been utilizing for a lot of our recent web shoots.
gathered these backdrops up, and headed to our wholesale showroom in ny, where the shoot was based. ransacked chinatown for lots of additional props – fake flowers, kites, lanterns, fans...
and spent a lot of time rigging them up with fishing line and binder clips!
we also threw in a new concept – karaoke - which is why you’ll see song lyrics (penned by our communications coordinator) and microphones popping up on a few pages of this book. the models sang along to our ipods while we were shooting those images...
for the shot of the chinese dragon, the team packed up and headed to a karate studio (located above our photographers’ studio) in the lower east side of the city.
The above photos are of the book our creative assistant put together for inspiration for the shoot. She gathered all kinds of images, photos, fabrics, yarns, and then layered on her own drawings and notes to start to piece together ideas for the finished catalog.
Got a comment from Paige asking about this little girl in our latest catalog. And Danie asked about the location. So here goes...
The catalog team shot the book in Puerto Rico. They travelled all along the north east coast, visiting San Juan, Ceiba, and El Yunque rainforest. They were driving through a beach town, saw the rooster mural on the side of a building and thought it would be a cool place to shoot. This little girl kept riding her bike by and watching the models. The FP girls asked her to be in the photo but the girl was super shy. Eventually she warmed up to them and decided to be in the photo if she could hold the model's hand.
I promised to share a couple of books that were really inspiring to the creative team while working on April's catalog. The first is called "Zara's Tales" , a memoir about Peter Beard's adventures in Africa and dedicated to his daughter, Zara. Beard's beautiful photography and drawings are scattered throughout.
The second is called "The Jouney is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon". Dan was an accomplished photo journalist by the age of 22 and was also a fantastic artist, combining collage techniques with his amazing photographs. This book was compiled from several scrap books he kept and his family assembled after his tragic death at 22, when Dan Eldon was working in extremely dangerous conditions in Mogadishu. A truly inspiring man of passion and talent. I recommend you check out this website "An Electronic Revolution" inspired by his life and work.
Our newest catalog should be on its way! Continuing with our theme of travel, the latest is inspired by Africa.
Our graphic designer took the oppurtunity to really run with the theme and did a ridiculous amount of artwork to collage into the catalog. Above photos show the pile of original works of painting and markmaking.
She also hand cut linoleum blocks to get the stamping technique seen in some of the titles. This book proved to be a truly hands on project. Stay tuned for more Africa "behind the scenes" and check out the catalog here...
drawing by Scott Avett
We would like to introduce you to the talented photography team that has recently been working with us on both our website and catalogs. They call themselves Cracker Farm and they are super fun to work with! We asked them to tell us their five most favorite things, and this is what they had to say...
1-Daz, their poor doggie that is no longer with them.
4-Morrocan Sleeping Pants... they got these amazing pants in Morocco when they did a photoshoot for Free People last year.
And this is Chief Butter, a favorite photo that they took.
So check out their links!!!
Wanted to show you a little "behind the scenes" on the photography process from our India shoot. A bunch of the photos were actually taken with a Polaroid camera. The film had this really cool black black border with punctured holes. Stay tuned for more info on the photography, as I will introduce you to our photographers!
In preparation for our March catalog, the creative team gathered tons of images for inpiration from India. The book drops this week, so check your mailboxes and stay tuned to the web for the digital version. Check out the "behind the scenes" video!
Our inspiration for our early spring collection is called Landed Gentry. The designers were looking at a lot of dandy menswear and liked mixing it with super romantic femininity. The amazing illustration above was done by one of our designers.
Check your mailboxes! The newest catalog has dropped and should be getting to you any day now. See it on our website here and check out all the new product on the site.
The creative team played off of the romance of the collection and started gathering all sort of romantic ephemera, like old books and sheet music. The book above was inscribed "from Alfred to Kate" and they went with that theme, changing the theme to "from Kate to Alfred".
The creative team found an old feather quill pen in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania and brought it back for our graphic designer to play with. Here she is practicing her lettering. She ended up mastering the quill as you can witness in beautiful lettering in the Landed Gentry catalog. The pen itself even inspired the cover...
This is Bruce. Bruce wasn't getting enough exercise in his South Philly apartment, so he came to run around the Free People building.
So in the name of the new year, we'd like to share some of what's to come in 07. First of all, our website is in the process of being totally redesigned. A major visual overhaul will coexist with better navigation, better search tools, improved product images and an easier checkout process. Yay!
Another exciting thing to look forward to is our catalogs. We plan on doing some experimenting and maybe even producing more books than just once a season. So if you're not on the catalog list yet, now is the time!
And hopefully we can make some improvements to the blog, but we need your help! Leave us a comment and let us know what you'd like to see! What are you curious about, what can we do more of??
So Bruce learned a lesson. If you wander to the back corner, home of the creative team, you could emerge covered in bows and feathers...
This post is in response to a few comments posted about the holiday catalog... We got an overwhelming response to our first holiday catalog. Way better than we had expected. Unfortunately, the second catalog (Holiday in Bali) was planned and shot at the same time as the first, and featured some of the same products. We had no way to edit the second catalog once items unexpectedly sold out.
Please forgive us! We are really excited we received such a great response, and will definitely be able to learn from this for future catalogs. If there is an item you just can't live without, you can contact our call center @ 800-309-1500. They may be able to locate the item in one of our store locations.
Our newest holiday catalog is out now! Keep a look out in your mailbox. Or check it out on our website. The inspiration for the latest collection was Bali, especially the textiles. We shot the catalog in Hobe Sound, Florida. Seeing these clothes and the location really makes me dream of taking a trip!
Our holiday catalog was shot in Alaska amidst glaciers, reindeer, and sleigh dogs. The above photo was shot at the Matanuska glacier.
The girls had to park the van and hike about a mile to the Matanuska glacier because it was impossible to drive through the icy ground. They had to carry EVERYTHING with them that mile including all the outfits, photo equipment, and hair & makeup supplies.
Part of the shoot was done on a glacier called Punch Bowl. They were staying in a town about 1 hour southeast of Anchorage and had to take a helicopter up to the glacier location. Suprisingly, this was not the first helicopter ride for either of the girls from the Free People team. Our art director had been on one for a prior job, and her partner in crime had been on one at a car show at the age of four...
For more "behind the scenes" click here to see a video from the holiday shoot.