This collection consists of all sorts of printed matter, everything from show invites to rare books, and it will chart the history of fashion from 1970 forward. It’s home base is Oslo, but as the scope of the project is international, and Olsen generally spends 10 months out of 12 on the road, it has the potential to travel, and the founder says she is open to rethinking what an institution, or library, can be today.
Olsen thinks of herself as more of an entrepreneur and a media person more than a fashion one, per se: “I feel like I have one foot in, one foot out. I like to create businesses and companies and publish publications and fashion has been like the filter for that…but that is a coincidence. It could have been anything,” she said on a recent Zoom chat.
It’s a throw-away culture that has contributed to the climate crisis. In order to move forward, there needs to be a clear-eyed look at history from different perspectives. The International Library of Fashion Research is one place to start.Sign Up Now The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com.