FREE CITY is a Los Angeles-based brand that originated at Ron Herman. The clothes come at a price, but the premium is worth the quality.  Sweats are by far the mainstay and claim to fame of FREE CITY.  All of the brand's clothing is handmade in the USA using only the finest fabrics. Perennial items include sweatshirts (pullover and zip hoodies), sweatpants, T-shirts, and tank tops, but there are also special, and oftentimes one-of-a-kind, items available for a limited time including Free City-Vans slip-on shoes, beanies/ski caps, cargo pants and shorts, parachute pants, wristbands, headbands, sherpa shoes, jewelry, bags, buttons/pins, rubber bracelets, puffy vests, and more.

Each year brings a new theme to the line, and around fall, there is a small soiree celebrating the launch of the new season's line.  Joining the classic LIFE NATURE LOVE, LET'S GO, ART ALIVE/ARTISTS WANTED, ARTYARD, and NEIGHBORHOOD lines (along with iconic hummingbird/sparrow and dove logos), are Texas Tokyo-Tokyo Texas, Vibrations and Color-In Music In Love, Believers-Fluxus, and the current Natural History Museum-Big Fast Strong line. Some of these new designs incorporate the mainstay motifs and some blend design elements of previous lines. All are original and unique and very much in keeping with the artistic ethos and independent spirit of the brand's designer and founder.

FREE CITY is also known for its beautiful, vibrant colors and hues, with their own unique names, all hand-created using a blend of paints at the Free City workshop in Hollywood. For example, the green line includes nico green, kelly green, green dirt, school green, army green, green machine, green dream, green stream, and mash green. Gray comes in marfa ash, oxford grey, grey art, slate grey, and charcoal. Orange comes in orange machine, artyard orange, adobe orange, india orange, burnt orange, alive orange, and orange dirt. Blue comes in ice, alive blue, blue machine, bright blue, blue sound, and navy. Pink has pink clay and Tokyo pink. Purple includes purple floor, purple night, purple bushes, purple world, etc. Even plain old white has names like dirty white and blue stone. You get the idea.  Once a particular color and style combo has been made, it rarely ever gets produced again, so certain styles and colors become instant classics. The pinks and greens are particularly popular and quickly sell out. The designer carefully chooses where her clothes are sold to avoid a glut in the market, so you will not find these clothes sold at department stores.

As with anything so popular and coveted, many fakes and imitations abound and the same is true of FREE CITY clothing. Beware of any eBay seller that sells multiple quantities of the same item and color (e.g., 10 pink hoodies of the same style). Also, using basic common sense will help. If you find a Free City hoodie for thirty bucks, then chances are (unless it's a pre-owned item) it is not authentic. The least expensive FREE CITY hoodie retails for $175, before sales tax, and the most expensive hoodie is $345, before sales tax.  Other price points, pre-tax: Shirts ($148-$215), tank tops ($64), sweatpants ($148), puffy vests and jackets ($428-$675), cargo pants ($395-$478), and assorted custom handmade jewelry ($435-$6,000+ range, depending on gold, silver, and gemstone content).  Also, the retail price points go up every year or so, due to high demand and limited supply. For example, the price of sweatpants has gone up a whopping 74% in the last 3 years alone (from $85 in 2006 to $148 in 2009).  But keep in mind that most FREE CITY clothes have a high resale value relative to other brands, precisely because of its rare styles, limited quantity, high quality, and esteemed reputation. The fact that they are all handmade in the USA contributes to these prices.

Free City sizing goes from 1 to 4 for hoodies and tank tops (equivalent to small to extra large), XS, S, M, L, XL, and XXL for shirts and sweatpants, waist sizing from 26-42 for pants, and one-size/universal size for select pullover hoodies (e.g., the Neighborhood with FREE CITY in block letters on the front).  Most clothes are unisex.

Most Free City clothes have a vintage look and feel that are deliberate and intended by the designer. The idea behind that is to make these clothes your wardrobe staples, clothing you will wear practically everyday for a very long time. The surface of a lot of the sweats feature pilling, but that is typical and does not detract from the comfort of the clothes. Some of the Superthrash clothes have holes and other markings that are also intentional. Also, since these clothes are handmade, every piece is unique.

Notable celebrity fans and customers of FREE CITY include Marc Jacobs, Chris Martin, Reese Witherspoon, Vanessa Hudgens, Lindsay Lohan, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Janet Jackson, to name a few.