last week i asked about our pretty floral tunics and it was a close vote but the winner was the burbank tunic, with 32% of the vote! this week, with the holidays upon us, i wanna know which of the following items you would splurge on…or would most want someone else to splurge on for you!
BLDG 25 serves as a safe space in which our community can embark on informative, creative, fun, enlightened adventures.
If you need anything, or just want to share, do so at: blog@freepeople.com.
Thank you for being here — it means the world to us. XO
Our Team
Carrie Yotter
Editorial Manager.
Zodiac sign: Cancer.
Favorite word in the English language: Love.
Favorite thing about FP: The people I work with and meet every single day. I’ve been employed by the company for over 18 years, and I attribute that staying power to the beauty and energy of my colleagues.
Go-to wellness tip: SLEEP! And take your vitamins.
Favorite song: “Fearless” by Pink Floyd.
What free means to me: Trusting that your voice is truth. And loving tirelessly.
Childhood was like Friday Night Lights, baby! With a degree in Apparel Design from The University of Texas and an internship for Luella (in London *sips tea*) under my belt, I moved to New York City with the hopes of interning for Nylon. No one cared! After working with a trend forecasting company that liked my fashion sketches, trying PR on for size, and styling at Moda Operandi as an editorial assistant, I landed an actual dream job writing for Voguewhen iconic editor Sarah Brown hired me onto her Beauty team. Now living in a fantasy space in Chicago, freelance writing is its own modern paradise. You can find my work featured in outlets like Vogue.com, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Paper Magazine, and Wellandgood.com. At the moment, I’m dreaming up a new way to collaborate with brilliant minds and cool hearts across the globe—if you’re one of them, look me up! In the meantime, I’ll be soaking in a whirlpool tub and/or applying layers and layers of skincare whilst listening to a podcast about energetic connectivity.
Madisyn Fecko
Lifestyle contributor.
hello, i’m madisyn; a dreamer, writer, photo-taker, creator. home for me is in the gritty steel city that built the world, pittsburgh. work days mean freelancing, pickin’ vintage furniture, or scribbling on my personal blog. on off days, i’m usually hiking in the forest with my 110 lb bernese mountain dog named wednesday. i’m a total book nerd, and always keep a story on my side for any chance that i can squeeze a few chapters in. i’m living a vegan lifestyle, and my true passion is for animals. one day i dream of living on a farm, creating a beautiful place where animals can find sanctuary. a few final words to describe me + wanderer / light chaser / morning person / cornbread enthusiast / music lover / crooked tooth & freckle-faced introvert. for a deeper look into my world, visit my blog, www.whoismadisyn.com <3
Kari Molvar
Beauty + Wellness contributor.
I grew up in Rhode Island, surrounded by sailboats and oars, and studied art history at Brown University. Rather than work in a museum, I chose to work in magazines. I started my career at SELF and eventually landed at Allure, where I got an education in everything from lipsticks to lasers to lymphatic drainage massages (all in the name of research!). Now as a freelance writer, I write about beauty for a variety of outlets, including T: The New York Times Style Magazine, Vogue, and Conde Nast Traveler. Offline, I chase around my two girls, who are most likely applying nail polish while I’m not looking, attempt to cook everyday, and go for runs as my own form of meditation.
inspiration from foreign cultures and fashions has always been important to free people. our designers travel to faraway locations to immerse themselves in different cultures, meet people and visit markets and shops, seeking unique finds and treasures to incorporate into free people designs. this video is from a few years ago, but we’ve never shared it on the blog…it was taken by two of our designers on a trip to tibet.
i hope to keep bringing you more imagery and video from the places our designers travel in the future!
erickson beamon jewelry is founded and designed by karen erickson, eric erickson and vicki beamon. as the story is told, their jewelry business was born out of necessity. while working with a designer for their premiere apparel runway show they found no one would lend them jewelry to accessorize with, so they strung crystals and beads on suede and launched their first jewelry line. immediately the jewelry took off and was noticed for its fashion forward, edgy quality. their trademark are handcrafted beaded necklaces, which are meticulously assembled by hand using tiny crystals and semi-precious stones. the unique, handmade yet fashionable quality of the pieces has drawn the attention of some of the most well-known designers in the fashion world, who have had erickson beamon design custom pieces for their shows. they have one retail store located in london that is described as “a place where people can have their fantasy come to life in jewels.”
we are thrilled to have their designs here at free people! view our full selection of erickson beamon here.
sooooo…i’m well aware of the holiday rush. it’s pretty hard to ignore. i’ve already started scanning the web in hopes of sparking a creative idea for gifts to family and friends… which is why i wanted to make myself and the free people home office at your disposal this year for all sorts of tips, suggestions, and advice during the holidays. i’ll be using twitter to post cool holiday gift ideas, recipes, fashion advice, and general inspiration to make this holiday unique.
come find me here…and get started by downloading our 2009 holiday card! click on the image above to go to our flickr page where you can download the card.
happy holidays!
victoria’s secret and sports illustrated swimwear model brooklyn decker wearing our we the free batwing sport tee during a workout session in new york!
the picture appeared with an article in the new york times about a new series of beauty and fitness dvds that she’s doing with elle magazine.
one of my co-workers sent me this really cool video from the chanel spring/summer 2010 show during paris fashion week…they put a spy camera in the model’s hair before her runway walk! it’s really interesting to see from her perspective…
some of you might be familiar with the awesome blog that is summer teeth…it is full of inspirational and fashionable images that always amaze me. we love it so much we decided to ask the awesome person behind the blog, dana, to do a guest post for our blog. but first, we wanted to know about her likes, dislikes, and more…read below to learn more about dana and stay tuned for her blog post later this week!
what is your first memory of free people?
age 15 or so. falling in love with, having to have, couldn’t leave behind so many of the free people tank tops and sweaters that i had a pile of about 20 in my arms. i was at the neighborhood loehmann’s (a discount mecca for the fashion-frenzied) and was dropping bits of clothing as i walked around the store.
what is the inspiration behind your blog?
my blog, as its been said before by many bloggers, started as a place to productively and effectively organize the thousands of images i had been accumulating in a few ‘inspiration’ folders on my computer. i comb the internet like a mad woman, and will save up to 20 photos to that folder a day. i had to find something that would make all the procrastinating from school work worthwhile! that, and for the last two years or so, i’ve been really trying to pick up photography. the best thing i’ve discovered for expanding your own aesthetic is by being exposed to the aesthetic of others. the blog was a way for me to compile this, and create a sort of inspiration board day by day.
what is your current state of mind?
expectant. i’m heading to a dirty projectors concert here in baltimore later tonight!
who are your heroes?
people who have the courage to go their own way, explore, be their own person, discover or at least hope to discover what makes them tick, and pursue it.
if you could choose what to come back to life as, what would you be?
this is a hard question! maybe a beautiful perennial flower. then, i could hide underground in the warm dirt during cold, wet months, regroup, and leap to life again every spring season. though the dying every winter thing might be tricky…
what or who is your greatest love?
john cusack, say anything.
name one thing necessary to your happiness.
things to look forward to (whether it’s a concert, going shopping, meeting up with friends, cooking some fancy and over-my-head recipe… etc.)
what do you hate the most?
cheese on pizza. and musicians who look horridly bored when performing in front of a crowd.
what would the name of your band be and what genre? what instruments do you play in this band?
summer teeth. oops! that’s the name of my blog… oops! that’s the name of a wilco album! actually, i really don’t know what i’d call it, but i think i’d design the sets and try and have a hand in the wardrobe of the band. i’m not so musically-endowed. But i do like to be surrounded by music.
what color are you?
iridescent. depends on which angle and in what light you look!
what is your motto?
don’t feel guilty for being a dreamer in a harsh world.
what is the one article of clothing you can’t live without?
this is much too hard. can i give three articles of clothing for this fall season instead? i’d say: well-fitting, worn-in jeans, my perforated oxford flats, and chunky knits (socks… sweaters… scarves).
Meanwhile, our Web Marketing Analyst Megan came across this pretty lady on Elle News Blog! She is wearing the Cape May Top and one of our shopping bags! So cute!
Have you guys had any Free People sightings lately?
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!
Check out these amazing swimsuits from Luiza Bonadiman‘s Spring/Summer collection! I saw them on Style Bubble and I had to post them! They look like they’re made of shoelaces, and I mean that in a good way – so intricate!
