Olsens talk with 'influences' in book debut

AP

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen released their first book last month, “Influences,” a collection of interviews with people who inspired the twins.

Pioneers in their own right, the twins set out on a year-long journey to interview, photograph and produce a 272-page book about the most influential people in their lives.

The 23 interviews, which range from fashion, jewelry and interior designers to models and photographers (and even interviews of the twins) dive deep into the subjects’ histories.

“With each project I begin, I’m reminded of the importance of listening, of appreciating and taking advantage of all the creative, dynamic, and wonderfully bizarre people in my life,” Ashley said in the introduction to the book. “And like any good listener, I know it’s my duty to share this wealth of influence with others.”

There are unique and creative touches in the book – the book is lined with a collage of Polaroids with celebrities and the twins’ life-long friends.

“Influence” is powerful in the sense that it feels like the reader is diving into a world of secrecy. It is normal for the average person to feel disconnected from the world of high fashion and luxury, but the book brings it directly to the coffee table.

The book takes the reader behind the scenes of the fashion world with information about fashion designer Diane Von Furstenburg’s telegram to then-fiancee, Prince Egon of Fürstenberg, about getting an abortion; about how photographer Terry Richardson’s biggest regret is that he is a beauty school dropout; and that jewelry designer Evan Yurman uses knife sharpening as a therapeutic stress-reliever. The entire book is about these influential people and how they cope in their own right with their day to day.

“I came up with a reason to live that was my true calling, and it was to be this liaison between the spirit realm and ordinary people, and to go up there and get my ideas and bring them back from the future and from the past,” said Robert Lee Morris, a jewelry designer and collaborator on the Olsen’s clothing line “The Row.”

There are little touches of Mary-Kate and Ashley throughout the read, and depending on the interview it is obvious which of them thought that person was the “influence.” However, even if both sisters attended the interviews, Mary-Kate seemed to ask more questions than Ashley.

For any fashion junkie this is a must-read, as it explains much more than any one-page interview in a magazine. The Olsens’ avoid cliché questions and ask informative, imaginative questions. The threesome of Mary-Kate, Ashley and their interviewee play off one another; each will chime and interrupt, and occasionally the interviewee will turn the interview around and ask the Olsens questions.

For any fan of the Olsens, this is a must buy; it is more like reading a fashion Bible than a coffee-table book. “Influence” injects a depth of humanity into the sisters and helps the reader understand where they get their motivation and creativity.

Sara Ferne can be reached at [email protected].