Dhe fog hovers low over the Oslofjord and gives the Norwegian capital a mystical atmosphere. The silence is only broken on this autumn morning by the occasional hooting of ferries and the screeching of seagulls.
A few meters away, Elise By Olsen is on the phone in front of a listed building. On November 29th, an institution that could also be listed as a monument will open here: a fashion library. The founder is 23. “There’s no going back now,” says By Olsen of her International Library of Fashion Research (ILFR). “The invitations for the opening will be sent out shortly.”
By Olsen puts the smartphone in the pocket of her black vintage coat. Underneath she wears a bright green sweater and dark pants, plus black Asics sneakers with subtle neon green stripes.
Editor-in-Chief at the age of 13
Elise By Olsen has been interested in fashion since she was a child. At the age of 13 she founded the culture magazine “Recens”. At 18, she became editor-in-chief of Wallet, a magazine critical of the fashion industry. She has traveled the world, giving lectures and curating exhibitions.
“Vogue” and “New York Times” are now celebrating Elise By Olsen for her commitment to print, to the fashion library which, if things go well, will one day house the world’s most extensive collection of this special genre. Look, there are young people who believe in the printed word.
The library should actually be accessible in Oslo as early as 2020. But then Corona came, so By Olsen and her team started online. Now it’s also starting offline, in the “Stasjonsmesterboligen”. The former station master’s house is part of the new complex of the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, which opened just five months ago.
Magazines in their natural environment: the International Library of Fashion Research is intended to house the largest collection of this special genre.
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Image: Alva Gehrmann
Where is space for around 10,000 objects?
Armed with a strong coffee from the neighboring café “Bollebar”, we climb the stairs to the library. In the future, changing exhibitions will be on display on the first floor, with the collection above. A few weeks before the opening, it still looks quite chaotic in the brightly lit room. Mountains of magazines are stacked on the silver shelves, light gray boxes on the desks.
The collection includes not only magazines and books, but also lookbooks, invitations to fashion shows and ephemera. In other words, material that is otherwise only available to industry insiders and the press. Space must be found here for around 10,000 objects.
The Norwegian loves the smell of printed paper, even if, as she says, she is part of the first generation to only grow up with the internet. In Høybråten, an outskirts of the poorer middle class in east Oslo, the girl attracted attention early on because she dressed differently. With “Recens”, By Olsen developed an English-language culture magazine by and for young people. They wrote about art, literature, activism and fashion. “We’ve built our own community.”
The shelves won’t stay empty for long: space still has to be found in the library for 10,000 exhibits.
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Image: Alva Gehrmann
“Take the risk. You can always go back to school.”
Outside of school hours, By Olsen worked in a co-working space. There she met like-minded people, including the adventurer, art collector and publisher Erling Kagge, who is one of Norway’s most famous people. One day, over coffee, By Olsen told him that she wasn’t sure whether she should graduate from high school – or whether she should concentrate directly on her projects after high school. “He said to me, ‘Take the risk. If it doesn’t work out, you can always go back to school’”, the young woman recalls the conversation today. “I still remember telling my parents about it that evening.” They supported the daughter, even though fashion was an unknown profession for the two postal workers.