Meet Ida. Ida belongs to Lily, who is the assistant designer for color and print. This means that Lily and Ida design prints for all Free People clothing and help pick out colors.
Name: Ida
Nickname: Idey-widey
Breed: Boston Terrier and Poodle mix
Likes: fetch, treats, showers, long walks in the woods, and cuddling
Dislikes: Solitude, boredom
Favorite friends: Boys, especially the staff of the mail room.
How did you meet Ida?
Ida was born in a trailer with turkeys living in the yard. I saw an add in the paper on Christmas Eve 2005 and we’ve been together ever since.
These cool scenes are from Terrain’s first store! Terrain is a sister brand of Free People, as they are both affiliated with Urban Outfitters Inc.
Terrain features a lot of the things a garden nursery would feature, like an array of plants, flowers and trees, and landscaping services. It also has some stunning and eclectic furniture and decorations for the home. Besides all that you can find some really incredible skincare products and even books at Terrain!
The store is located in Glen Mills, PA, a town outside of Philadelphia. This weekend they are having a fun container gardening event, on Saturday at 10am and again at 2pm! Check them out if you are in the area!
Meet Sara, our Web Production Assistant! Please tell us about your job and duties:
I work on the Free People website, updating it with new product. I also work with the images on the site, and copy on the product pages. How long have you worked for Free People?
I started March 2008, 3 months. What do you like best about working for Free People?
I love working with the great merchandise! It is exciting to see what is going to come out next and fun being at a company that has unique products. Also all the great people I get to work with! Your favorite current Free People item?
The Crosshatch Printed Dress! It is so cute for summer and the print is really eye catching! It is a good piece to layer in creative ways as well. Do you have a pet?
Yes! I have a cat named Rosie. She is looks like a tiger and has grey and black stripes. She is very fun and has lots of attitude! Some of her favorite things are cheese, hanging out in the bathtub and looking at birds out the window. What inspires you?
I think traveling and being outdoors are some of the most inspiring things. Traveling always opens my mind to new things and different kinds of people. I love being outside too, enjoying a nice day and watching thunderstorms in the summer time. What do you enjoy doing when you’re not at work?
I like going to yoga and cooking. I love watching the Food Network and the Discovery Channel. I go to concerts as much as I can, and spending time with my friends going to the beach or on trips. I also really love going shopping! Have you a favorite artist?
I don’t know if I have a favorite but I really love art in general. My favorite kinds are contemporary and modern art. Is there a current trend you wish would go away?
Well, I’m not sure if this is a trend, but I really hate Crocs. They can be cute on little kids but besides that I think they are awful! Is there a current trend you wish would stay forever?
Right now I really like wearing summer scarves, which is something I haven’t done much in the past. I also love longer length tops and tunics over skinny jeans. I think dark wash jeans are great too because they are so flattering! What are your favorite books? Movies? Websites? Music?
My favorite books are 1984 and A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett.
Right now I am reading The Time Traveler’s Wife, which is really interesting so far.
Movies I have always loved are Empire Records and Spaceballs, which always makes me laugh no matter how many times I have seen it.
I also love gossip websites, like People.com and celebrity gossip blogs.
The music I have been listening to right now includes the new Coldplay album Viva la Vida, and the new Weezer too! Where did you grow up? Love it or hate it?
I grew up in Verona, New Jersey, which is in North Jersey. It is a suburb of New York and a very small town. I love it there, but I am happier to be living in Philly on my own! Though I do like going home to spend time with my family and friends. What did you want to be as a child?
I actually wanted to be an author! I would write stories in 4th grade that were a few pages long, and think about when I would grow up and write big novels. The funny thing is I was the worst speller in the class! What superpower would you most like to have?
Well, sometimes I wish I could read people’s minds but that could also be a really bad thing! So I would have to say being able to teleport where ever I wanted to go; it would make traveling a lot easier! Where are your favorite places to hang out?
I like going to New Deck Tavern with my friends because it is a ten minute walk away and they have the best cheese fries! Also, The Bubble House is near there, and I like getting bubble tea and going for lunch. There is also a café down the street from my apartment called the Green Line Café and I love to go there on the weekends for iced coffees!
Lastly, here’s a picture of Rosie to brighten your day!
I confess, I am somewhat hesitant to post the following video, for a few reasons. It’s not the highest quality video we’ve taken here at Free People, and also, I don’t want to be too self-promoting. However, I have had much encouragement from everyone at the home office to post it up, as everyone here finds it pretty hilarious – and it is kind of funny…
So here it is, me, very nervously getting myself ready for my interview at Free People trying to get the internship I have now. Cutting up one of the shirts I made and putting some finishing touches on it is my big sister Doub.
Georgie is the dog of Doub, who is the Senior Designer for knits and pants and the Creative Director.
Name: Georgie
Nicknames: gorgeous georges, georgie georgie puddin in pie
Breed: frenchie
Likes: to secretly go to web shoot shh! don’t tell anyone
Dislikes: the rule about no dogs at web shoots
Favorite friends: Stella her big sis of course and the web team
How did you meet? we met on the internet
Anything else you want to share? georgie likes to do imitations of Yoda. She is very talented and is considering a voiceover career since her web shoot modeling career ended quite abruptly.
*First name: Dana
*How long have you worked at Free People? A year and a half
*Tell me about your job: I work on the FP knits team, designing for alternating seasons (Holiday, Spring, Summer 2/ Fall1). I get to sketch and design things for each trend, select fabrics and work with our color team to chose prints for each style. And then we travel to our overseas vendors to check up on the product and help them out.
*What do you like best about working at FP? I love the people I work with! I love having creative freedom, and the ability to design things that are unique and hand crafted. When we get to see our styles for the first time before we show them to the sales team, it’s like Christmas. Everyone gets so excited opening the boxes, and looking at the product that we’ve all worked so hard on.
*Favorite current FP item? I love the Seashore Dropwaist Tank in white because it’s great to wear with jeans, and it’s a cute stripe which is always fun if you just want something to throw on.. and you can layer it or wear a cute belt. OH And I LOVE the Chubby Change Purses!! They are so tiny and cute and fabulous.
*What do you do when not at work? I hang out with my son Asher, go thrift shopping, sew stuff, bake pies, watch movies in the winter, go camping in the summer, shop ebay like an addict
*Top 5 favorite things (books, movies, websites, music, artists etc)? WOW i have a ton! I just finished the last Harry Potter book – it might be nerdy but I love them! I have also read Watership Down a thousand times, I like the Steven King Gunslinger books and any sort of biography/ autobiography. Some good movies are Moulin Rouge, Footloose, and Urban Cowboy. I heart art by Elizabeth McGrath and Audrey Kawasaki.
*What did you want to me when you were a kid? I wanted to be a ballerina until I was 12, and then I wanted to be a veterinarian until I did a job shadow and realized it wasn’t for me.
*Favorite places to hang out? The shore, the woods and Pennypack Park. I’m from Seattle, and when I’m there I love the Bleu Bistro on Capitol Hill, vintage shopping in the University district, Lincoln Park in West Seattle, Moses Lake for camping, Ocean Shores for vacation.
This cool tree, which has been ‘planted’ on a wall next to the lobby here in the
Free People Home Office, features a photo of nearly every Free People Home Office employee!
The photos don’t quite capture how big and cool it actually is!
(And a big thank you to everyone who helped put it up! It’s wonderful!)
Here is our behind the scenes look at the Free People Home Office in Philadelphia. This video shows our three summer trends for 2008.
Peace Corps Prep: Inspired by girls in the peace corps traveling in India.
Everything But a Flower: A collection of new and vintage geometric patterns and shapes.
Mayan: Inspired by the beautiful Mayan Riviera and Aztec designs.
Enjoy!
Here is Rosie!!
and a note from her owner…
I was actually on the hunt for an English Bulldog, but came upon Rosie and loved her immediately! I wanted a female dog I could name Rosie Ruby, and when I saw her, she looked like a Rosie Ruby to me. She is my first dog and she is a handful! But she’s very sweet and good protection since I live alone.
Name: Rosie Ruby
Nick names: Rosie Monster, Rosie Posie, The Beast, Poop face!
Breed: American Bulldog
Likes: Everyone, squeaky toys, digging up the flowers in my yard, taking over the whole bed, and a good belly rub.
Dislikes: People with there hoods up. Boxes, mannequins, and ceiling fans are scary!!
Favorite friends: Indi, Brownie, Baxter and Keegan
Rosie is a great dog! I love that monster!!
A few people asked how they can buy the FP tutus from the photo I posted. We do not have them for sale, but Luren from the display team has some tips.
To make these tutus, Luren used camisoles from past FP collections and petticoats she found on the internet. But you can make your own!
It’s easy to make a tutu: just find a color range of tulle and netting at your local fabric store and a thick band of elastic. If you have a sewing machine you can sew tiers of tulle onto the elastic band in a pleat-y way, folding an inch of the tulle under itself and sewing that inch, then folding more tulle under and sewing that inch so you’re making pleat after pleat after pleat right on the elastic band.
You can make several tiers of pleated tulle on a thick elastic band. Then you can add little bands of pleated tulle onto the bottom of the layers of tulle for extra bulk. We layered bright colors under pastel colors so that when you saw the tutus from below you got a special surprise pop of color.
Then we sewed them to Free People camisoles. The effect of this can be achieved with your homemade tutu or any tutu you can find at a thrift store or a dance shop. Most dance shops carry the donut style tutu (really big and thick around the waist) and the more relaxed skirt-y tutu. You can just pin the tutu to the bottom of the camisole all around and then use a needle and thread to whip stitch them together.
Good luck!
Luren (see this entry to learn more about Luren)
So, no one in the home office dresses alike or wears the same outfit-ever. However, one thing we all can agree on is how much we love the We The Free line.
We noticed how popular the sweatshirts and tees were in the home office so we started to document everyone rocking their WTF.
Some thoughts from the home office:
“It feels good. It looks good….I never want to take it off!”
“If you are rushing in the morning and you don’t know what to wear..you can throw on your We The Free and you are good to go!”
“The pockets on the pullover sweatshirt rule…. I’ve never felt this way about a sweatshirt before. For reals.”
“It’s great to wear everyday. Its super comfy and I get lots of compliments when I wear it…” Check out the full collection of We the Free
Meet Indiana Jones. Indie is a sweet boy who plays nicely with all of the other Free People dogs and comes to work almost every day.
Indie belongs to Erin, who is the Associate Designer for Prints and Colors. This means that Erin and Indie work on the print artwork for all Free People apparel. They also help to choose and name the colors for each item for every season. So if you love the print on your favorite Free People dress or shirt, chances are Indie and Erin had something to do with it.
Name: Indiana Jones
Nickname: Indie, Monster, Dr. Jones
Breed: Catahoula Leopard mix (seriously, it’s a real dog. If you don’t believe me, look up the state dog of Louisiana)
Likes: Running, running, and running.
Dislikes: People who step on his tail, people who take his trashcan, and mailmen (of course)
Favorite friends: He has an awful lot of friends, but I think his favorites are probably Rosie (an American Bull Dog), Keegan (a Black Lab), Dave (Manager of Free People Direct) and Mary Ellen (Senior Designer for Color and Prints.)
How did you meet Indie: We rescued him from a shelter in Philadelphia. I just wanted to pet him, because he looked so cute and I ended up taking him home :)
Anything else you want to share: Indie loves working at FP! Sometimes when we leave at night he won’t get in the car! He just keeps running back to the front doors!
