*UPDATE: we have a winner! this giveaway is now closed.*
time for a giveaway! why? because it’s my birthday! :)
actually, our holiday displays have gone up in our stores and the fall displays have come down so we want to give away one of these pretty fabric covered urns! the vases were cast in india and covered with fabric from antique indian quilts and turbans, and decorated with beaded tassels. we have some in our lobby and they look awesome – this would be a great decorative piece for your home!
all you have to do is leave a comment below and we will select the winner at random on friday morning! be sure to leave your email address so we can contact you if you win. good luck!
*p.s. those of you who missed it, check out our DIY to make something similar to these!
as a vegetarian, i often find myself in a bit of a conundrum when it comes to some clothing. i love the look and feel of leather jackets, and lately i’ve been thinking about purchasing one, but a part of me always feels guilty. am i a true vegetarian if i wear a leather jacket? is that hypocritical? sure i could buy a fake leather jacket…but they never seem to look as cool as the real ones.
the battalion has come along and solved my problem, by creating “vegan” leather pants and jackets that look just as good as, or better than, the real thing. i decided to find out a little bit more about the company and wow…i am in love.
the battalion specializes in knits and woven fabrics that are eco-friendly, primarily rayon, bamboo, organic cotton, promodal, recycled polyester, veggie fur, veggie leather, and cruelty free “peace” silk.
here’s a brief interview with battalion founder linda wong!
What inspired you to start the battalion?
I see clothes as something more than adornment of oneself but as the foundation of one’s creativity and personal expression. I started The Battalion as a vehicle to communicate that vision.
Have you always been passionate about fashion and designing? How would you describe your personal style?
My first love is drawing and creating. As I acquired the technical skills of clothes making, I fell in love with fashion design. My style is exactly like how I design. It has to be comfortable but not boring. It is relevant to popular and sub cultures, and full of narratives
What environmental issue are you most passionate about?
The Battalion is a member of The Nature Conservancy and 1% for the Planet. We are passionate about preserving nature. We also recognize that in order to make a fundamental difference with environmental issues, we have to encourage the right environmental policies to be in place. We mobilize our fans via twitter, facebook to get out the vote for all issues that will better our environment. Lastly and most importantly, we are promoting the benefits of wearing faux fur. It is not only ethical, but it is more beautiful and alluring to wear something where no animals were hurt in the process.
Battalion AW10 inspiration board
I read that the inspiration for the AW10 collection is landscape, desert and a wolf named Indio. Can you explain this a little bit more?
Years ago, my design partner worked in the costume department of one of Wim Wenders movies. His movies were known for it’s beautiful imageries of Americana. Recently I found a road atlas he left behind with detailed notes of routes he had taken during the scout. So we went on a road trip, following the routes from Los Angeles, to Palm Desert, through Las Vegas, up to Monument Valley in Utah and down to Sedona, Arizona. The collection is the reflection of our epic trip. And yes, we met a wolf name Indio in the desert whom inspired our expanded faux fur collection.
What’s next for the battalion? Is there anything you can share that you’re working on now and are really excited about?
For Spring 2011 we have some beautiful hand crochet pieces that are made in a very new way. Instead if using yarns, we crochet our ultra soft and light weight jersey fabrics.
The results are beautiful and delicate looking tops and dresses with self-crochet details.We are also making new versions of our best seller, The Battalion knit pants with buckle trims, motorcycle details, and some secret ingredients. More to come!
view the battalion items available at freepeople.com here.
i saw this on poppytalk today and i couldn’t resist sharing. did any of you guys ever make “god’s eyes”? i never have but they’re so awesome looking and simple to make. just tie two sticks together and weave the yarn around them, starting at the center – to see a quick tutorial on exactly how to wrap the yarn, click here. plus you can play around with the colors to get some really pretty combinations – they’d make lovely little table decorations or even christmas tree ornaments!
i also love the pieces of driftwood wrapped in yarn – it reminds me of this photo from our office that i posted not too long ago:
you may have noticed these lanterns hanging in our new university village store…they were made by one of our fp girls who works for our west coast display team, and she was kind enough to write up a little tutorial for the blog!
what you need: wire framed lantern, fabric scraps, trims, needle, straight pins, and thread.
lantern: the lantern we use is custom made in india. it is a simple wire frame with a mylar cylinder in the middle for good light diffusion (these lanterns are more about style than a good light source :)). with this raw form, fabric is attached.
i suggest going to a thrift store and looking for lamp shades with a wire frame and taking off the pre-existing fabric – the lamp shades you will find in a thrift store will be a more common kind of shade but the following sewing/ fabric assembling treatment will make it look much more enchanting and wild!
fabric selection: having great fabrics is the key to a great lantern! i had a lot of amazing fabrics and trims to choose from. i choose to mix sheer, vinyl, cotton, and decorative trims. you can find these trims and fabrics from any fabric district or thrift store, but the fancier more elaborate trims we got from India.
i suggest going to a large fabric wholesaler and digging through their bins of scraps. if you happen to be in los angeles, there is only ONE place to find trims: shana-tex!!! they have sooooooo many trims stacked in high piles which you have to dig through…but so worth it because you can get huge spools of lace, sequins, and bright colored trims for pennies.
if you aren’t in los angeles, look up your neighborhood fabric wholesaler or thrift store for great rare finds. i have used thrift store table clothes, eyelet linens, etc.
sewing/ aesthetic: i just pick out the scraps of fabric and trims that i like and begin placing them on the lantern. i prefer to start in the middle at the widest part and work out from there.
fold the fabric over a part of the wire form and do a whip stitch to hold fabric to frame and itself. from the FIRST piece of fabric, i placed another piece of trim or fabric. to keep it in place I used the straight pins and then sewed the piece of fabric. repeat this process and soon it grows into a solid lantern.
sometimes i worked in different areas of the lan-tern, but always made sure that the composition felt right and was well balanced. the look i was going for was a loose, organic assemblage of fabrics and trims….so, i just mixed sewing and tying ends in knots. the pictures tell this story. you will see sewn edges and knotted pieces. i even left holes in places to maintain the “loose” aesthetic :)
electrical hook-up: this is the easy part! i just bought a cord socket combo from home depot and threaded it through a hole (part of wire frame) and screwed in a light bulb.
for rumi neely’s shoot in the october catalog, our team went to the home of our senior designer behind our fp one line and store design. located in mt. airy, philadelphia, her house is everything you would imagine for someone with her creative spirit. from the outside it looks like villa you’d see in the south of france, and on the inside it is full of treasures she has collected during her travels (she spends six months of each year in india).
a video is coming soon, but here is a special preview of her beautiful home.
today our team held a baby shower for our visual display and store design manager – one of the very talented creative ladies behind our incredible stores! as you can imagine, our visual team went all out for her baby shower. they even decorated a golf cart that they drove straight up to her desk to pick her up and drive her over to the outdoor location where the shower was set up! here are some photos from the celebration.
i always feel like the best way to get to know someone is to see where they live – a home can tell so much about a person. we’re going to be exploring more homes of fp girls here on the blog and i thought i’d start with my own.
i’ve been living in old city, philadelphia for about a year now since moving back east from san francisco. old city is my favorite part of philly because its rather small and my closest friends live in about a two block radius – as well as my favorite coffee shop, record store and bar. i don’t spend much time at home but i view my place as a safe haven when i need to relax, listen to music and be alone with my thoughts.
this buddha is one of my most treasured possessions – i got it from my dad, who used to collect them. the beatles white album is my favorite record of all time, and i found this original copy at a thrift store in ocean beach san diego.
this is actually a lamp that is currently being used as a hat rack :)
more of my favorite things… jewelry box that holds some rings and trinkets that are very special to me. i still ask my eight ball for advice when i can’t make decisions. a lucky candle, favorite photo and drawing i did of jimi hendrix.
i needed a place to hang my necklaces so i put a few nails in the wall.
the majority of my closet is free people – not because i work here, it was always that way :)
i saw someone with this cardboard sign on haight street in san fran and i thought it was awesome.
photos of places i’ve been and my favorite grateful dead poster.
the majority of the artwork i have hanging right now is concert-related.
this little antique mirror table unfortunately does not belong to me, but i love it so much. i use it to store random little trinkets, photos and concert tickets. and i always have candles burning!
my fridge – my favorite quote of all time is in the center.
another quote i love, from a jimi hendrix song. the postcard at top right was sent to me when i got the job at free people and i thought it was the sweetest thing ever. and fun fact about me – i’m a certified bartender in san francisco :)
and last but certainly not least – this is my cat, jam <3
when i was looking through the photos of our new scottsdale, arizona, store i was completely captivated by this little “display moment” created by fp girl courtney.
remember our boho mom contest? this was the winning photo, submitted by our fan heather. her prize was a very special one-of-a-kind garment, based on the one above, created by free people.
and here it is!!
they did such an amazing job! i love this – i would buy that top in a heartbeat! congrats heather, we hope you love it :)
our newest store opened on friday in scottsdale arizona and our visual manager for the west coast sent along some great photos of the setup! she also got some amazing detail shots of the displays so stay tuned for those :)
