Ashley Olsen is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur, and actress. Ashley founded her luxury brand, The Row in 2006, and co-designs Elizabeth and James with Mary-Kate Olsen, her twin sister.
Career
Working as a twin
Ashley Olsen began her career at the age of nine months, when she and her sister Mary-Kate were hired to share the role of Michelle Tanner on the popular television series Full House in 1987. To comply with strict child labor laws regarding child actors, Ashley and Mary-Kate took turns during taping of the show. Both girls were credited as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen" in an attempt to keep audiences from realizing that two children played the role.
Following Full House, Ashley released a string of successful straight-to-video movies and became a popular figure in the preteen market during the late '90s and early 2000s. Her name became a household item, with her likeness seen in clothes, books, fragrances, magazines, movies and posters. There were even fashion dolls of her made by Mattel from 2000-2005.
She starred in the video series The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley, the ABC show Two of a Kind, and Fox Family's So Little Time. They were ranked number three on the VH1 program 100 Greatest Child Stars.
In 2004, Ashley appeared alongside her twin sister in the theatrical light-hearted romantic comedy, New York Minute, also starring Eugene Levy.
Both Mary-Kate and Ashley work on their fashion line called Elizabeth and James, which is named after their brother and sister.
In 2008, Mary-Kate and Ashley released a book titled "Influence", which contained interviews with many creative and influential people including Karl Lagerfeld, Terry Richardson, Diane von Furstenberg and many more. The book received positive reviews not only by critics but also by fans of the twins.
CEO
In 2004, both Ashley and Mary-Kate became CEO of their company Dualstar (created in 1993 following the success on Full House), the brand currently selling in over 3,000 stores in America and 5,300 stores world-wide. Their success has been marked on Forbes The Celebrity 100 list since 2002, and in 2007 Forbes ranked the twins as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated net worth of $100 million.1
Fashion designer
Following a high volume of public interest in their fashion choices, both work in collaboration on a string of fashion lines available to the public.
Starting as young girls, they have a clothing line in Wal-Mart stores across America for girls ages 4-14 as well as a beauty line called "Mary-Kate and Ashley: Real fashion for real girls". In 2004 they made news by signing a pledge to allow all the workers that sew their line of clothing in Bangladesh full maternity leave. The National Labor Committee, which organized the pledge, later praised the twins for their commitment to worker rights. The director of the organization, Charles Kernaghan, is quoted as saying:
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The Olsen twins have done the right thing. Now it is up to Wal-Mart to either support Mary-Kate and Ashley’s commitment to women’s rights, or tragically to shut them down.2 |
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In 2006, in an attempt to gain credibility in the fashion industry after their association with Wal-Mart tarnished their reputations, they were tapped as the faces of the upscale fashion line Badgley Mischka 3
In a more mature fashion project, Ashley and her sister have released The Row, a high-end fashion line inspired by London's Savile Row. The line is a direct reflection of their own popular personal style and features shirts and tank tops selling for hundreds of dollars each. The clothing is sold at high-end retailers such as Barneys, Maxfield, Harvey Nichols, Brown's, and others around the world. Ashley and Mary-Kate continued their expansion in the fashion industry with the Fall '07 launch of Elizabeth & James, their contemporary collection inspired by many of their unique vintage finds and pieces in their personal wardrobes. In February 2009 it was announced that The Row and Elizabeth and James are expanding to menswear by Fall '09.
Public image
Though her fashion choices have become somewhat popular, Olsen has not been without criticism for her wearing and promotion of fur.4 In 2006, she was included on PETA's 2006 Worst Dressed list for wearing fur and is often a target of their anti-fur campaigning.
Personal life
Seeking to establish independent identities for herself and her twin sister, Ashley has asked the public and the media to refer to them not as "the Olsen twins" but instead as Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen.
Ashley's first serious relationship began in 2001 with high school senior Matt Kaplan. The pair met through Mary-Kate's ex Max Winkler. They began dating in 2001, however they broke up in 2004 because of the long distance between them created by the fact Matt was in college on the east coast. Rumours circulated that the real reason they broke up was because Matt was overbearing and jealous of the male attention Ashley received. These reports were denied.5 In 2004, during her freshman year at NYU Ashley was romantically linked to restaurateur Scott Sartiano. It is believed the pair were introduced by Ashley's Full House co-star John Stamos, who asked Sartiano to take care of Mary-Kate and Ashley during their first year living in New York. The relationship only lasted nine months, with the breakdown being blamed on Sartiano's playboy lifestyle. 6
After this Ashley had a very brief fling with 30 Seconds To Mars frontman Jared Leto which was highly publicized. 7 Ashley's next serious relationship was with former Ksubi Jeans CEO Greg Chait. The pair began dating in late 2005 and were regularly photographed together all over LA and New York, as well as on vacation. The pair broke up in early 2007. The reason is believed to be Greg's resistance to commit long term. The reports were never confirmed or denied.8
It was rumoured in 2007 that Ashley was dating seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. There were several eyewitness reports but the relationship was never confirmed.9
As of May 2008, Ashley has been in a relationship with National Treasure actor Justin Bartha. The pair are regularly seen on dates and around both LA and New York together, however neither has commented on the relationship with the media. The intensely private couple made their first official public appearance as a unit at the Metropolitan Ball this year (2009).10
Libel Lawsuit
In 2005, Ashley filed a $40 million lawsuit against tabloid magazine National Enquirer for printing a headline reading "Ashley Olsen Caught In Drug Scandal," and the associated story.11
Filmography
Awards and nominations
See also
Further reading
References
- ^ Goldman, Lea and Kiri Blakeley. "In Pictures: The Richest 20 Women In Entertainment". forbes.com. 17 January 2007.
- ^ Grossberg, Josh. Mary-Kate, Ashley: No Sweat. E! Online. 9 December 2004.
- ^ Hall, Sarah. Olsen Twins Strike a Pose. E! ONline. February 15, 2006.
- ^ "PETA Sends Olsens a Birthday Gift". http://www.observer.com/2008/peta-sends-olsens-birthday-gift. The New York Observer
- ^ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,633121,00.html
- ^ http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-8-2004-59054.asp
- ^ http://www.usmagazine.com/ashley_olsen_and_jared_leto_make_out
- ^ http://gossip.commongate.com/post/Ashley_Olsen_splits_with_boyfriend
- ^ http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20156021,00.html
- ^ http://www.hollyscoop.com/ashley-olsen/ashley-olsen-and-justin-bartha-still-going-strong_17828.aspx
- ^ Amter, Charlie and Sarah Hall. Ashley Olsen's Tab Turn. February 16, 2005.
External links
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