Free People is an American

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

apparel and lifestyle retail company that sells women’s clothing, accessories, shoes, intimates, and swimwear. It also has a beauty and wellness category, which includes products such as cosmetics, skin, and oral care, oral supplements, crystals, and books. The prices of their items range from $4 to upwards of $2,500. Recently, the company has added a category called “FP Movement,” which is a mix of athletic and

athleisure Athleisure is a hybrid style of athletic clothing typically worn as everyday wear. Athleisure outfits can include yoga pants, tights, sneakers, leggings and shorts that look like athletic wear, characterized as "fashionable, dressed-up sweats and ...

clothing, in addition to information on workout classes and events. Their headquarters is located in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and Free People is a part of Urban Outfitters, Inc., along with

Anthropologie Anthropologie is an American clothing retailer with approximately 200 stores across the U.S., Canada, and the UK that offers an assortment of clothing, jewelry, home furniture, decoration, beauty products, and gifts. Anthropologie is part of ...

BHLDN BHLDN ( disemvowelment of "beholden") is an American women's clothing retailer that specializes in wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, bridal accessories, and wedding décor. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, BHLDN is owned by Urban ...

, Terrain, and the Vetri family restaurant group. Today, Free People sells their line in 1,400 specialty stores worldwide. The brand is distributed globally via direct channels, including the Free People Global site and Free People UK site, as well as specialty clothing boutiques,

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s, and the brand’s freestanding retail locations in the U.S. and Canada.

History

In the early 1970s,

Richard Hayne Richard Hayne (born May 26, 1947) is the president and CEO of Urban Outfitters, an American chain of clothing retailers. Hayne has served as chairman and president since 1976. In 2012, he became CEO following the retirement of Glen Senk. According ...

opened a store in West

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, with his first wife, Judy Wicks, and named it Free People. His store attracted the young people who lived and shopped in the area. When its popularity grew, he opened a second store, and he changed its name from Free People to

Urban Outfitters Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) is a multinational lifestyle retail corporation headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Operating in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, select Western European countries, Poland the United Arab Emirates, Kuw ...

. Urban Outfitters’ business began to grow rapidly. Dick’s then wife, Meg, oversaw the development of Urban Outfitters’

private label A private label, also called a private brand or private-label brand, is a brand owned by a company, offered by that company alongside and competing with brands from other businesses. A private-label brand is almost always offered exclusively by th ...

division, which supported product exclusive to Urban Outfitters. This proved to be quite successful; by 1984, the wholesale line "Free People" was back in action. In the fall of 2002, the first Free People Boutique opened in

Paramus Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Since the first boutique opened, there are now boutiques all over the United States, Canada and. Free People developed an app which allows users to shop and to upload their own looks and pictures wearing Free People clothing and products. In 2006, Free People partnered with Ed Mullen Studio to design an

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manageme ...

strategy. According to the studio, Free People is a constantly changing and evolving brand whose goal is to promote

creativity Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed literary w ...

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

, and neat

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

. As of 2021, Free People sells in over 1,400 specialty stores worldwide. Some department stores, such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, have created in-store concept shops to enhance the beauty of the clothes, and provide their customers with the quintessential Free People experience. Along with serving as URBN’s

chief creative officer A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated with ...

, Margaret Hayne is also currently chief executive of Free People. In the first six months of 2013, sales topped $180 million, an increase over the $135 million in 2012; the company's use of

big data Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...

and

social commerce Social commerce is a subset of electronic commerce that involves social media and online media that supports social interaction, and user contributions to assist online buying and selling of products and services. More succinctly, social commerce ...

were factors in its sales growth.

Boutiques and showrooms

* Free People has a total of 136 free standing boutiques across the United States and Canada. * Free People also operates

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

a pop-up showroom located in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

: the only store outside of North America. There are shows every month. * Free People also sell their clothing to independent boutiques within Canada.

Partnerships

On May 24, 2016, Free People partnered with

Girls Inc. Girls Inc. (established in 1864) is a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization which encourages girls to be "Strong, Smart, and Bold" through direct service and advocacy. The organization prioritizes equipping girls with the skills to na ...

This partnership has developed the brand more. It is a charity-driven social campaign. The

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

supports over 140,000 innovative, confident, strong, and smart girls across the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to succeed. Free People contributes by sending several women each month that they think best spread Girls Inc. across their social media channels, by giving a donation and sending them Free People apparel. Free People gives away cloth bags. Whenever someone re-uses or does not accept the cloth bag at check out, Free People donates .25 cents to Girls Inc. Free People also partnered with The Chalkboard Mag for their Worldwide FP Let's Move event tour. In January 2017, Free People announced their third annual event tour. Free People partnered with WebLinc when creating their multichannel app. The app has been downloaded an estimated 130,000 times.

Controversies

In May 2015, the company was criticized online by professional

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancers for using an untrained dancer in an ad. In April 2016, the company was criticized for the advertisements of its new clothing line directed towards

music festival A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

attendees. The advertisements promoted Native American styled clothing on a Caucasian model, which garnered criticism on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

Refinery29 Refinery29 (R29) is an American multinational digital media and entertainment website focused on young women. It is owned by Vice Media. History Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and Christene Barberich co-founded Refinery29 i ...

br>Free People’s Festival Shop Gets Called Out For Cultural Appropriation
ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV, APRIL 8, 2016

References

{{Urban Outfitters , state=collapsed Clothing retailers of the United States Clothing brands of the United States Companies based in Philadelphia Retail companies established in 1984