october catalog: we the free

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!

follow free people on twitter!

So we’ve decided to join the next world of social networking and set up a twitter feed! Twitter gives little bite sized updates on what you’re doing, and is a great way to quickly keep up on what’s happening with your friends.
Never heard of twitter? Click here and go to “watch a video.” (The video is made by common craft.They make great simple videos in “plain english” explaining different social networking platforms and all kinds of techy stuff.)
Click here to view our twitter feed, set up an account and follow us!

August catalog sneak peek!

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!

may catalog is here!

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!!!

another peek at our newest catalog!

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!

april catalog

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. :)

store spotlight

We are going to do some spotlights of Free People stores, so you can get to know a little bit about each one. The first entry is from our very first Free People store! Here is what the girls had to say…
Where is your store located? Garden State Plaza Mall, Paramus NJ
How many people work in your store? 5 Managers, 12 Sales Associates.
What is the weather like? Well right now it’s still cold, but we are all anxiously waiting for Spring to come!!!
What is the best thing for lunch in the area? One of our sales associate’s parents’ has a deli/market…Morano’s!!
What is your favorite piece in the store right now? The Cherry Blossom Dress..it is made of great fabric and has an amazing fit on everyone!!
How are people wearing this piece? Either by itself or looks really cute w/ skinny jeans or leggings
What is your favorite local treat? We love Ritas or Ralph’s Italian ice especially now in the spring and summer and Starbucks drinks!
What does the FP Girl do for fun? Go out with her friends to the mall, movies, bars
What else do you want us to know about your store? We all have a great time working with each other and provide GREAT customer service to all our customers!!! We all really love the brand and have so much fun working here!!

march catalog!

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

february catalog

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…