Oh, say can you see........
One of the very first seasonal collections we ever did years ago was our Patriotic collection! It has always been one of my absolute personal favorites! It started out as just a few special limited edition Patriotic inspired Oklahoma graphic t-shirts and tank tops that we would roll out right before the 4th of July each year. Since then we've expanded into USA inspired graphic t-shirts and tanks along with many other options such as Piko tops, tanks, and tunics. (By the way have you checked out our Piko collection lately?? Piko has an all new look! We've discontinued many of the traditional older styles and brought in all new brand new styles that you will absolutely LOVE! The cross fronts are a must have!)
Anyways.......Last year we launched before Memorial weekend and it only makes sense to carry that on and celebrate America all Summer long! Hence the name, American Summer.
This year we narrowed our graphic t-shirt selections down to a more carefully selected group of USA inspired and Oklahoma designs you're sure to love! Of course, in addition to all of the t-shirts and tanks we're loaded with trendy options such as denim skirts, denim shirts, denim jackets, and much more!
When finding inspiration for this shoot and this collection overall I'm gonna be honest my mind was EVERYWHERE! I had so many ideas and so many different vibes when collaborating with our local vendors to create the t-shirt designs and then a whole different vibe in mind when selecting the dresses, tops, skirts, and Pikos. Therefore for this shoot we kind of let the clothing lead the way based upon each specific grouping! In some, I had a vintage Tommy Hilfiger/Ralph Lauren vibe in mind. Definitely circa 1990ish. Other shots you'll see my mind ventured back into the 70s. And in some shots my mind ventured into a Summer camp theme while in some shots my thoughts went straight to a preppy Ralph Lauren vibe. Typically when my creative wheels work in a direction that can't be narrowed down to one specific vibe it stresses me out but we decided to go with it and let our minds run wild and it turned out awesome! We had so much fun!
Sit back, relax, and enjoy the sneak peek preview of this year's American Summer collection!
Beau Brand, of Brand Imaging, tag teamed this shoot with our creative director and staff photographer Matt Farthing. Of course when the 3 of us team up it's always a lot of fun and basically feels like bro day!
Here are some of my fave shots by Beau.
Y'all wait. It's important to note two things here.
1) Alvin really did cook prob 40 hot dogs during these takes. lol
2) Alvin and Brice actually did have a hot dog eating contest during these takes. I offered to set them up with bowls of water to dip them in but they declined. lol!
Here are some of my fave shots captured by our staff creative director Matt!
Funny note about this last pic. They really did set the tent up! Matt handed them a brand new in the box tent and told them we won't stop shooting until you get it set up! I was impressed with the girls, they got it up super quick!!
You guys. I am OBSESSING over these looks! You can shop them in store and on shop.lushfashionlounge.com this Tuesday May 23rd at 10am CST!
An important note as always is almost every t-shirt design is printed on a unisex blank making many of these designs perfect for girls and guys!
I can honestly say it took me awhile to come around with the whole denim on denim look. I can't tell you how many times a staff member would come in wearing a denim shirt with denim shorts and I'd enlighten them on the terms "Texas Tuxedo" or "Canadian Tuxedo". (By the way.... stop what you're doing right now and google those terms. The images that come up just made my entire week.)
Anyways some of my favorite looks from this collection are the denim on denim looks! Especially the retro Land that I love ivory tee paired with the denim shorts and a denim jacket. I am OBSESSING over this!!
I think the most important thing to mention about this collection is this:
We created a camo tee and tank option in collaboration with our friends at Kickoff Couture to where 100% of all sales of these two special edition USA camo tees and tanks will go to Warriors for Freedom. These super soft and very trendy Alternative Apparel tees and tanks are very popular this season! Every single dollar from these two styles will go towards their mission of "supporting and improving mental, physical and holistic wellness for our nations active military, veterans, and their families" (excerpt taken from their website).
To find out more about Warriors for Freedom click here. I've crossed paths with their executive director, Amber Moulder, many times over the years and am so excited to work with her and be able to give to such a wonderful organization.
I cannot being to express the gratitude I have for our brave military men and women. They are the reason I am free and able to wake up and do this job that I love every single day.
If you head to our social media you'll see a behind the scenes video!
It was shot by McNeese Stills + Motion.
I can't say enough good things about David Mcneese! He captures everything so beautifully and not to mention he's a blast to be around too!
As always we mix work and fun! This shoot felt like a good ol day at the lake and I absolutely loved it!
Special thanks to an old friend, JD Terry, for driving out the perfect truck for this shoot! As always our shoots feel like friends and family just getting together and that's what I love most about all the people I work with!
This shoot was styled by myself, Kristen Giroux, Rylee Tubre, and Kaylee Yeager. Special thanks to Jordan Fine for helping with set up and clean up and being an all around utility player at Lush!
My fiancee came out for an afternoon of fishing in between us getting some great shots on the boat!
Our general manager, Leslie Camp, always goes above and beyond for Lush and she assisted in many different things with this collection including being active in the selections and designs of merchandise.
Of course the same familiar Lush faces can be found in this shoot too!
I say this every single collection blog but I absolutely love that every single girl in these photos works in our store or warehouse location. They truly know the merchandise well and can help our customers with their purchases in such a special way! I love that our customers get to know these faces too on a personal level!
The two handsome fellas deserve credit too! Alvin is friends with some of the staff members and Brice is one of our online order fulfillment employees in our warehouse!
Almost the entire collection was custom designed exclusively for Lush Fashion Lounge in collaboration with not only local vendors but also nationwide vendors! I am forever grateful for our vendors allowing me the opportunity to collaborate on exclusives!
I hope you all enjoyed this sneak peek! We are so excited to launch it!
Set your reminders for Tuesday May 23rd at 10am CST for the launch of American Summer!
I'd also like to take this time to say THANK YOU again to our brave military men and women and their families for their service and sacrifice. We offer a military discount in store with ID and we ship to all APO addresses FREE!
Til next time
xoxo
Carrie