I approach the man behind the glass. He doesn’t look at me. I hand him my passport. ‘Why are you in Norway?’ he asks, flipping through its pages. ‘To work’, I reply, plainly. ‘What kind of work?’ ‘Research’, I respond, reveling in the evasiveness (surely, a privilege). He goes again: ‘What kind of research?’. I finally spill the beans: ‘fashion research’. He repeats the F*word as his eyes finally meet mine. Norway and fashion. Fashion and research. I can’t work out which combination of words threw him. Perhaps all four.
Fashion with a capital M goes with Paris. Research, surely, with something like science. What’s the point of studying something so frivolous? Can one we really think through fashion? Yes sir, my sense of self hinges on it. And that is how I pay my rent. In this case, it involves writing something about the International Library of Fashion Research for the glossy pages you are holding in your hands. The library holds fashion ephemera, i.e. printed matter, which include show invitations, studio memos, look books, a range of fashion magazines and a modest selection of academic writing, among other things. Hence Revue Faire’s interest in the library, and my being in Oslo for two days.
English/French
76 pages, 21 × 29,7 cm, CMYK
Saddle stitched binding
April 2025
ISBN: 979-10-95991-49-6
ISSN: 2558-2062
About Revue Faire
Adopting an analytical and critical posture with regard to the forms and activities of Graphic Design, in 2017 Sacha Léopold and François Havegeer established a print publication that deals with these practices. Revue Faire invites various authors (writers, designers, design historians…) to contribute. The list of contributors includes Mathias Augustyniak, Stuart Bertolotti-Bailey, Arianne Bosshard, Lise Brosseau, Manon Bruet, Thierry Chancogne, Céline Chazalviel, Jérôme Dupeyrat, Aude Fellay, Catherine Geel, Catherine Guiral, Étienne Hervy, Olivier Huz, Joris Kritis, James Langdon, Victoire le Bars, Olivier Lebrun, Julie Martin, Alexandra Midal, Camille Pageard, Remi Parcollet, Sonia de Puineuf, Ziga Testen and Benjamin Thorel.
Design: Syndicat
Published by www.e-m-p-i-r-e.eu
