Ashley Olsen
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Ashley Fuller Olsen (born June 13, 1986) is an American fashion designer, entrepreneur, and actress. Ashley co-founded luxury fashion brand The Row and the more affordable Elizabeth and James with her twin sister Mary-Kate Olsen.
Career
Working as a twin
Ashley Olsen began her career at the age of nine months, when she and her sister Mary-Kate Olsen were hired to share the role of Michelle Tanner on the popular television series Full House in 1987. To comply with 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. She became a household name, with her likeness seen in clothes, books, fragrances, magazines, movies and posters t.v and many others. 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 ABC 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.
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.
She then went onto starting her new fashion lines.
CEO
In 2004, both Ashley and Mary-Kate became CEOs 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 worldwide. 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 combined net worth of $100 million.
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:
“ | 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. | ” |
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.
Ashley and her sister have released The Row, a high-end fashion line inspired by London's Savile Row. 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 2007 launch of Elizabeth & James, their contemporary collection inspired by many of their unique vintage finds and pieces in their personal wardrobes.
Personal life
Ashley has been in a relationship with the actor Justin Bartha since 2008.
Public image
Though her fashion choices have become popular, Olsen has not been without criticism for her wearing and promotion of fur.
Filmography
Today
Ashley, now CEO of two fashion lines, is rarely seen on the small or big screen. With her twin sister still acting, Ashley focuses more on fashion. But she is sometimes seen in headlines of magazines and articles on the Internet. Although her sister Mary-Kate does not look fondly back on her child star days, stating that she and Ashley were "Little Monkey Performers," Michelle Tanner, the character they portrayed in Full House is still wildly popular.
Awards and nominations
- Walk of Fame
- 2004: Star on the Walk of Fame (with Mary-Kate Olsen)
- Young Artist Award
- 1989: Best Young Actor/Actress — Under Five Years of Age ( Full House) WON (with Mary-Kate Olsen)
- 1990: Outstanding Performance by an Actress Under Nine Years of Age ( Full House) - WON (with Mary-Kate Olsen)
- 1992: Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress Under Ten ( Full House) - WON (with Mary-Kate Olsen)
- 1994: Best Youth Actress in a TV Mini-Series, M.O.W. or Special ( Double, Double, Toil and Trouble) - WON (with Mary-Kate Olsen)
- 1996: Best Performance by an Actress Under Ten — Feature Film ( It Takes Two) - Nominated
- Teen Choice Awards
- 2004: Choice Movie Blush ( New York Minute) - Nominated (with Mary-Kate Olsen)
- TV Land Awards
- 2004: Quintessential Non-Traditional Family ( Full House) - Nominated (with Candace Cameron Bure, Dave Coulier, Lori Loughlin, Mary-Kate Olsen, Bob Saget, John Stamos and Jodie Sweetin)
- Razzie Awards
- 2005: Worst Actress ( New York Minute) - Nominated (with Mary-Kate Olsen)
- 2005: Worst Screen Couple ( New York Minute) - Nominated
- Kids' Choice Awards
- 1996: Favorite Movie Actress ( It Takes Two) - WON (with Mary-Kate Olsen)
- 1999: Favorite TV Actress ( Two of a Kind) - WON (with Mary-Kate Olsen)
- DVD Exclusive Awards
- 2003: Franchise Performers Award - WON (with Mary-Kate Olsen)