Random Bits: Inspiration, Encounters and Candids

-Molly Girard Coonan and Alice Barlow, the two people behind new label Barlow, are just like us in that they find a source of inspiration in Freja. Her picture is apparently up on their inspiration board, and they told NY Mag's The Cut that they "like to mix in elements that are both masculine and sexy." Well, if you ask me they couldn't have picked a more perfect source for that type of inspiration.

-I came across a lovely (but oldish) Freja encounter. During the shooting of the editorial "Before the Fall" for Vogue UK August 2008, fashion intern Rebecca got to meet Freja and just recently posted about the experience (complete with pictures) on her blog. Here's a snippet of what she had to say:

"Anyway in between camera flashes and set manoeuvres I found myself, the overzealous intern, engrossed in conversation with Freja and mesmerised by how laid back she was. Personally, I was overwhelmed by the whole experience. I’d acquired my own chauffeur for the day to ferry me to and from the studio, I was immersed in a sea of designer shoes and garments that, no doubt, amounted to more than what I would earn in my life time and I had drinks, CHOCOLATE, and first class food on tap. Freja was, obviously, used to what I wasn’t! and seemed so happy to sit and chat with me about me – oh and tatoos. She has ‘Float’ scrawled across her neck amidst numerous other skin engravings. She informed me that she just floats through life – like I hadn’t noticed."

You can see the pictures over on her blog as I don't feel comfortable posting them on here because I really only came across them by chance.

-Lastly, here's a candid picture of Freja, Abbey Lee and Leigh Lezark back in May at the Chanel Cruise show that was held in St. Tropez. It's still slightly odd to see Freja wearing a "color" other than black. ;)

Image Credits: My Scan

Twin Update

The publicity machine is definitely churning for this magazine...um, I mean...book as Refinery29 points out. Hopefully you've already pre-ordered your copy; but if not, you better hurry. With this much buzz surrounding the new tome and only 10,000 copies printed, it's sure to sell out.

I'm eagerly waiting for my copy to arrive, but not just because of Freja's editorial. To be honest, I'm more excited about the Todd Selby piece. I adore his website and I can't wait to see what his own home looks like. But that's besides the point. In addition to the write up done by Refinery29, Fashionista did a more Freja-centric writeup.

I feel like nearly every fashion blog I read is buzzing about this, so my expectations are definitely high. Hopefully they're not disappointed. If no one else scans it before I get my copy, you can bet I'll definitely do the honors. But that little book has to make it's way across the Atlantic first...too bad the Concorde doesn't fly anymore. :)

The official launch is happening tonight so if we're lucky we might get more information and pics tomorrow.

New York Living

After hearing about it a few weeks ago in the interview below, we now have official confirmation that Freja has moved to New York.

@ 1:10

Here is the direct quote from her official site:

She has moved to NY earlier this week and hasn't got any Internet connection up running yet, so unfortunately she can't monitor this board right now.

When I first heard about it in the interview, I thought maybe Freja was talking about getting a second apartment. You know, a place to land whenever she's in the city for work, which has been quite often of late. After all, she's made no secret of her love for Denmark and her satisfaction living there. So it's a little surprising to me that she would make this move now.

For the past five years Freja has successfully managed to do her job very well, all while maintaining a home base in Copenhagen. Her career is totally established and she's well known and (I'm assuming) well paid enough to live wherever she wants to. So why would she choose to make this move now?

Only Freja can answer that question, but that's not going to stop me from mulling it over and coming up with some reasons as to why I think she moved now.

1. We've seen a very steady uptick recently in the amount of work Freja has put out. Perhaps things reached a fever-pitch and the move was a necessary, common sense response for her heath and sanity's sake. Constantly traveling across the globe definitely takes it's toll on the body and it's circadian rhythms.

2. In addition to dressing the part now, Freja is finally committing to the fashion industry and fully accepting her role within it. This move is just the last piece of the puzzle. Most girls move within a few months after starting their career so Freja's situation is definitely an anomaly. She stayed true to her "rebel" reputation and did things her own way. Simultaneously, this move could also be seen as a sign of maturity in that she's growing out of this rebel phase and into adulthood. Which brings me to....

3. Freja's reached that point in her life where she wants more independence and freedom. She wants to live completely on her own terms, to see if she's strong enough to survive in a new city. She has matured into young adulthood and moving away from home is the most tangible expression of that. I think we all feel something similar when we transition from our teens into our twenties, so maybe it's no coincidence that this move coincides with her 22nd birthday. It also helps that...

4. All her model friends live in NY and hang out together. Maybe Freja just didn't want to be apart from that any more. Yes, she has her family and childhood friends in Denmark, but there comes a point in one's life when you just want to strike out on your own. And friend geography helps you determine where that should happen. I know that I'm living where I am because of my friends.

5. The lure of the city that never sleeps was just too strong to deny any longer.

6. Her motivations are none of the above and not professionally related at all. If this is the case, then it's none of our business. :)

Do you think I'm missing anything? Even though I can't figure out why Freja moved now, this is exciting for us fans because of it's implications. New York is one of the centers of the fashion industry, so Freja's move to it implies that we'll be seeing even more work from her. It also implies that she'll be sticking around a lot longer than any of us thought.

Proof positive that things can and do change for the better. If you told me one year ago that Freja was going to start an official site, have one of her best campaign seasons ever and move to NY I would have called you crazy. Knowing that all this has actually happened in the past year, I'm excited and a little scared to see where we'll be one year from now.

BTW, thanks everyone for the wonderful comments yesterday about the anniversary of this blog and Freja's b-day. You would think a few words from people you don't know wouldn't make a difference, but they do. They make all the difference in the world.

And Here We Go!

As expected, Freja walked in the Rag & Bone show tonight. Fashion month has officially begun! From now until October it's going to be an absolute whirlwind through New York, London (!!), Milan and Paris. I hope you're ready!

Since I do have a day job to maintain, I'm just going to do one big update at the end of each city with occasional posts in between when it's necessary. I'm sure that everyone at tFS will practically be live-updating anyway, so my posting here after every show will be redundant for those of you who are members over there as well. Anyway, I'll try my best to keep up, so bear with me. New York fashion week only started yesterday and my eyes are already glazing over from image overload.

Just had to post one more shot. Look at her cracking a smile. :)

Image Credits: getty.com via tFS member asmanis, racked.com

Keep Your Eyes Open

Thought I'd do a recap of things to look out for in terms of Freja's upcoming work.

-She recently shot something with Sasha on the streets on NY. Judging by the pictures on tFS, it's probably for an editorial.

-She was in Monaco two weeks ago where Karl Lagerfeld shot her for an editorial to appear in an upcoming issue of Harper's Bazaar.

-She was in London recently, hopefully shooting something for Vogue UK (see post below).

-At some point in the near future (as stated in her blog post) Freja is off on a bigger round trip to NY and Paris. If it happens this month, I think it will be for some print work. If it happens in July then it's possibly for the couture shows which start on July 6th I believe.

In response to a fan question on her website, Freja stated that she would be attending the Roskilde Festival this year, but that ends on July 5th. So that leaves plenty of time for her to jet on over to Paris and stomp down the couture catwalks. Whew! I'm tired just thinking about all those airline miles being logged. But as fans, we have a lot to look out for and look forward to.

A Small Update

So I left out one of Freja's Chanel runway appearances in this previous post. I didn't even realize my mistake until one of you commented on it. So THANK YOU to whoever you are. I can't believe I left out her first runway appearance at Chanel! I feel pretty stupid for not getting my facts straight. I guess writing all those research papers in college didn't do me much good after all. :)

I also just updated the images in this post. Thanks to member kokobombon at bwgreyscale.com, we have the full set in HQ!