Free People HQ

I had the HUGE honor of visiting URBN Inc. headquarters in Philadelphia last week to interview with the Free People brand. It was a quick 48 hour trip, jam packed with long flights, meet-n-greets, tours and interviews. I even had the pleasure of meeting the FP president, who was just so sweet and graceful. Everyone I talked to made me feel right at home, which eased my nerves.

I wish I had the chance to take pictures of the inside of the buildings, they were a dream - lush greenery, colorful decor (all hand made), cozy couches, vintage accents, hard wood floors and paneling, mood boards and of course tons and tons of gorgeous fabric and clothes.

URBN Inc. is an umbrella company, owning Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, Free People, BHLDN and Terrain. HQ is located in the scenic old Naval Yard on Philly waters. There are huge lawns surrounding the URBN brick buildings where you'll find employees and their faithful pet companions. One of the buildings includes a full cafeteria (looked like awesome eats, had I not been too nervous to have breakfast), gym and day care center. The whole scene is almost like a university campus, but with older, more beautifully, well dressed people.

This is the out of the FP building... massive.

The view from on of the docks on the Naval Yard. These ships are unreal, now I know how Rose felt on Titanic. ;-)

FP didn't have a store in it's home town til about two months ago, which I thought was interesting. The number of FP retail stores has almost tripled in the past two years.

Walking the streets of Center City in Philly. I didn't land til late. This was taken around 11pm on a Wednesday night.

Another view from the docks of the Naval Yard.

This is a better look at the URBN "campus." All of the buildings in view are URBN owned.

A dinner recommendation from an FP recruiter - Amis. I ordered a big glass of wine and a spicy pasta. SO GOOD.

This was actual my favorite picture from the trip, which coincidentally had absolutely nothing to do with Free People. Oh well. I call it "The 'Phil'ly Harmonic" - a window display for what I'm guessing is a music studio.

All of the great retail brand shopping can be done on Walnut St. in Center City. My hotel was around the corner.

My interview feet.

Each building is labeled with these "shield" signs. The Free People building is 25, which is where the FP blog title came BLDG 25.

THE JOB HUNT - URBN Inc.

I'm always on the job hunt.... I'm always looking for new ways to improve myself and climb that tiresome professional ladder. I recently applied for the Merchant Leadership Program at URBN Inc, which essentially filters into a buying position at headquarters. I'm still waiting for a reply back, but I had to say that the application was challenging, but very rewarding. If anything, I've gotten tremendous experience by just completing my app. Plus it was fun to do!

Lifestyle is THE main objective for the URBN brands (Urban Outfitters, Free People and Anthropologie). I specifically applied for the Free People segment of the MLP program, mostly because I enjoy shopping there... I am the demographic and I feel that I am a good example of that lifestyle.... I digress. I'm really proud of the work I put in, and for curiosity sake I'd love some feed back. So comment away on what I like to call the "Inspiration Installation" portion of my application!

The whole application was about 5 pages long, but I didn't want to bore you with my words (maybe I've done that already?) so here is the gist of it.... My photo installation was inspired by spring 2012 as I saw it for Free People. These are trends that I'm looking out for this season. I included textures, themes, lifestyle and of course product.

For this spring I see a continuation of the 90s grunge trend, which includes studs, nail art, biker boots, and bleached denim. I'm also on the look out for anything Navajo/Native American inspired.... turquoise and sliver jewelry, worn leathers, fringe, feathers (of course), messy curls, and suede. The hobo-hippie look is a Free People staple, so I find it to be more of a lifestyle than a "trend." So... my intention was to interpret the 2012 hippie (yes there's such thing), who I see wearing SUPER-bell bottoms, platform wedges, head/hair wraps/scarves, extra hardware (aka layered jewelry), body jewelry (in the hair, on the shoulders), lots of lace and crochets, and either sporting a knot bun or a braid every day.