A whole library dedicated to fashion has just opened in Oslo

For many style obsessives, the thought of an entire library solely dedicated to the art of dressing would be pure wishful fantasy. But this dream has become a reality today for city dwellers in Oslo as a new space, the International Library of Fashion Research opens its doors, a mere four years after the concept was first conceived by founder Elise By Olsen, the 22-year-old Norwegian editor-in-chief of magazine Wallet, a self-founded fashion industry journal.

With a mission to “become the world’s most comprehensive repository of specialised fashion research and contemporary fashion publications,” the library will house over 5,000 different contemporary printed pieces in the collection, ranging from books to magazines, to show invitations along with lookbooks and illustrations dating back from 1975 to the present day. The vast collection, formed via donations, is a bid to actively recognise and preserve fashion’s great archive, along with looking to what the future of fashion has in store.

Led by Olsen – an industry powerhouse known for being one of the world’s youngest editors-in-chief of glossy magazine Recens at just 13-years-old – the library is located in central Oslo, at the Stasjonsmesterboligen, known as the Station Master’s house. Having reportedly saved the historic building from demolition, the spot is a prime address for the collection given that just across the road sits the recently opened National Museum of Norway.

The ILFR space consists of a 1,600 square feet upper level, along with a 8,100-square-foot space for exhibitions and talks on the level below. And upcoming talks this week include a satellite exhibition opening with independent publishers Steen & Strøm: ‘Independent Publishers: Independent Fashion’, along with their opening exhibition ‘For Immediate Release: The Art of the Press Release' which features matter from Virgil Abloh, Prada along with Maison Martin Margela.