Ashley Olsen

March 12th, 2008 by Celebrity | Posted in Ashley Olsen |

Ashley Fuller Olsen (born June 13, 1986) is an American actress, best known as half of the acting duo Mary-Kate and Ashley alongside her fraternal twin sister, Mary-Kate Olsen.

Career

Work as twins

Olsen began her career at the age of nine months, when both twin sisters were hired for the role of Michelle Tanner on the popular television series Full House in 1987. To comply with strict child labor laws regarding child actors, the girls took turns during taping of the show. Both girls were credited as “Mary Kate Ashley Olsen” in an attempt to deter audiences from coming to the realization that girls were in fact twins.

Following Full House, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen released a string of successful straight-to-video movies and became popular figures in the preteen market during the late ’90s and early 2000s. Their names became a cottage industry, with their likeness seen in clothes, books, fragrances, magazines, movies and posters. There were even fashion dolls made by Mattel from 2000 - 2005.

They 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.

Their most recent theatrical venture was in the light-hearted romantic comedy, New York Minute, also starring Eugene Levy. The film was expected to launch the girls into more serious adult roles, but was a box office flop. However, the film is currently available for purchasing on DVD.

Working separately

Most currently, the girls have urged the public and the media to see them separately following a request to be referred to, not as ‘The Olsen Twins’ but as Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen.

Fashion designer

Following a high volume of public interest in the girls 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.”[2] However their collaboration with Wal-Mart tarnished their fashionable reputations amongst the fashion industry until they were tapped as the faces of upscale fashion line Badgley Mischka in 2006, in an attempt to gain credibility in the fashion industry after their association with Wal-Mart.

In a more matured fashion project, Ashley and her sister have released The Row, a high-end fashion line inspired by London’s Savile Row, the line a direct reflection of their own popular personal style. The line 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.

Wikipedia