I can't stop thinking about: 'Influence' by Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen
Reflections on the coffee table book I had once considered the bible as a teenager
Welcome to a new segment of the newsletter! I’ve been sending out weekly updates and thought to myself that it would be nice to have a space to justify our cultural and sartorial obsessions—whether it is Sofia Coppola’s directing attire or Lexi Featherston’s death scene in SATC. You can read the first letter under this segment here. Thank you for reading Spilled Milk as it grows!
Things often fall into your lap the moment you need them. As some of you might have read in my last letter, I’m back in Manila for the holidays, which has been a nice break from Paris and the admin-related frustration it has been causing me for the last few months. I am a sentimental girl, and rummaging through old journals, photo albums, as well as my parents’ closets always center me—a reminder that especially when abroad, it is always good to have items that help you come home to yourself.
The other week, one particular instance of coming home to myself was stumbling upon a book I was once—and still am—completely obsessed with, Influence by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Published in 2008 and edited by their friend Derek Blasberg, the 250-page publication is a collection of intimate, in-depth interviews with fashion and art industry icons who have influenced the authors, who were only 21 or 22 at the time it was published. It is filled with colorful conversations with people like Karl Lagerfeld, Peter Beard, Diane von Furstenberg, John Galliano, and Lauren Hutton, just to name a few, and in many ways, the book inspired the way I approached interviews when I was writing for fashion and lifestyle magazines years later.
If you’re reading this, then it is highly likely that you share the same fascination with the Olsen twins. I had seen a few of their films as a child, but I had never really considered myself obsessed until the publication of Influence, their hold clearly still on me many years later, when The Row sample sales would create a dent in my student allowance. It was when they stepped away from the limelight to focus on fashion when I gained more respect for them and their work ethic. Additionally, because they are so private, every paparazzi sighting that documented their pristinely disheveled outfits was a glimpse into their lives; reading details like the origins of The Row being pinpointed to Ashley’s sheer desire to create the perfect t-shirt or Mary-Kate’s wedding to ex-husband Olivier Sarkozy having “bowls and bowls filled with cigarettes” still delight me to this day.
I was in my first or second year of high school when I added Influence to my Christmas wish list, and it was gifted to me weeks later by my dear parents, who always encouraged consuming books and films. A fashion book written by child stars? Why not, they probably thought. At the time, it simply encouraged me to run a fashion blog (remember those?), which makes me cringe now thinking about it, but it was also an invitation to experiment, to discover what I liked, what I didn’t like, and most importantly, what didn’t suit me (a pixie haircut). In the introduction, Ashley writes, “I believe part of the process of figuring yourself out is a way of connecting the dots between the fabulous and influential people around us all, like some sort of hidden constellation—you only have to know where to look.” Leafing through the pages in a way that was more respectful than I ever did with the actual bible, I started out with the interviews with people I was more familiar with, and then slowly discovered the names that would later be references when I got older. Going back every now and then, I always discover a new quote as if it were the first time. Here are a few of my favorites:
“You know, the most important thing I can tell you about creativity is to try and think originally. And try to look into yourself to find things. They’re not outside.“ - Peter Lindbergh
“The only thing my mother told me was that fear is not an option—and that you have to be your own best friend… That gave me so much strength: No matter what happens—the ups, the downs, the this, the that—I’m always with me. And I have a great relationship with me.“ - Diane von Furstenberg
“I like to work from my imagination and I think to do that you have to be able to remember the way things look in a painting. If someone looks for that version of Saint Jerome somewhere they’ll never find it because it’s just a memory of all those paintings. You can figure out how to paint without a model. But I’m not that into working form models anymore. Occasionally I did and at the end of the day I just spend all my time trying to look if I’ve pleased the models themselves.“ - George Condo
“Diana Vreeland used to go over Interview with me every month; she had been fired at Vogue just about when we started, so she had all this editorial energy and no place to put it. She would say, ‘What’s that horrible photo? You call that photography?’ I’d say, ‘Diana, people like that sort of thing.’ And she would say, ‘How many times have I told you—your job as an editor is not to give people what they want. It’s to give people what they don’t know they want yet!“ - Bob Colacello
Naturally, one of my favorite parts of the book fall smack in the middle: the interviews Mary-Kate and Ashley conducted with each other. It included Proust questionnaires and personal memorabilia, and access to this—during a time when our tastes were not dictated to us by algorithms—was a huge impact to me. Each item was personal and carefully chosen, making me reflect on how we should approach our own wardrobes. Ideally, we should have a relationship with every item that goes into our closet. These pages were a reminder to pause and consider whether we truly love something, or if it is just another trend we’re trying to follow.
So, why am I so obsessed with them? I’ve always admired people with a strong point of view, people who always seem so themselves. We could go off on a tangent about the way The Row does business, about how everyone is talking about the end of quiet luxury and the evolution of more personal style (thank God), but that’s not really what this section is about. I simply want to gush about a book that means so much to me. The book, as I previously mentioned, feels like a window into their inner lives, a testament to their singular vision. They never seemed overly concerned with trends, which is so clear in the way they dressed. When Mary-Kate hands over her questionnaire to Ashley and asks what she wants to be, her response is simple: “I want to be a wise woman.”
It’s funny how certain things stay with us throughout the years. I still want many of the same things I did when I was younger: I came across a painting of the Eiffel Tower that I made when I was 10 and an old journal I kept in my early teens saying I wanted to try living in Europe one day. Finding this book while I’m home for the holidays is more proof that you never really stray far from your inner child.
P.S.
Speaking of personal style, this episode of Fashion People dissects what made Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s style so great.
I have not been reading much books on this trip (oops), but I have been reading a lot of pieces on Substack. Here is one about how a few brands are bringing ad campaigns back and another one about how our phones are potentially making us feel less sexy. Eek.
Here is an article on The Cut about the top cosmetic procedures of 2024 and the future of our faces.
I have been eating so much the last few weeks! One thing I was happy to eat again yesterday was Casa Luisa’s garlic butter crab palabok.
See you next week, where I’ll be writing from Paris again! xx
Nice