Oleana is a textile manufacturing company located in Arna, Norway, a borough of Bergen. It is known for its manufacture of knitted clothing and blankets designed by Solveig Hisdal.
Oleana is a textile manufacturing company located in Arna, Norway, a borough of Bergen. It is known for its manufacture of knitted clothing and blankets designed by Solveig Hisdal.
Oleana was founded in 1992 by Signe Aarhus, Hildegunn Møster, and Kolbjørn Valestrand. Textile production was moving out of Norway and the unemployment rate was high. They had been working for Dale of Norway and felt that a smaller company with a flat rather than hierarchical structure could be efficient enough to succeed while manufacturing in Norway. [2] They named the company after the musician Ole Bull's utopian settlement of Oleana in New Norway, Pennsylvania. In the age of Norwegian nationalism Ole Bull had collected Norwegian folk music and brought it into the best concert halls. In the same spirit they wished to preserve and develop the Norwegian knitting tradition. [3] They hired designer Solveig Hisdahl after seeing her exhibit in Oslo, "Wedding Jackets from a Town Girl", inspired by Norwegian folk costumes. [3]
Aarhus, Møster, and Valestrand started out by raising funds for good used knitting machines. They opened a factory near Bergen in space rented from another knitwear manufacturer. The Bergen area has a tradition of textile mills and continues to have commercial wool spinners. [3] In 1996 Oleana received a grant from the Norwegian Industrial Development Fund for newly established industries. In 2003 Aarhus was named Norway`s "Business Woman of the Year". [4]
In 2012 the factory moved into the old Arne Fabrikker mill in Arna. That company built the first textile mill in western Norway in 1856, and operated there until 1978. Clothing and blankets are produced on up-to-date industrial knitting and linking machines and finished by hand. [5] [6] The textiles are exported to other countries in Europe and to North America, Australia, and New Zealand. [7] They are sold in upscale shops around the world. [3]
In 2018, with designer Hisdahl considering retirement, the company hired Mathilda Nordberg to work with her. Nordberg is a graduate of London's Royal College of Art. [8]
In 1993 Oleana was awarded the Norwegian Design Council's "Award for Design Excellence" in textile and clothing design. The company received the award again in 1997, 1999, 2001 (twice) and 2002. [4] [9] In 2000 Hisdahl was awarded the Jacob Prize by Norsk Form, the Foundation for Design and Architecture in Norway, for her work in clothing design. [4] [10]
In the fall of 2001 the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, Washington, presented an exhibit on the work of Solveig Hisdal and Oleana. [3] The Goldstein Museum of Design in St. Paul, Minnesota, exhibited Hisdal's work in the winter of 2004. [11]
Bergen, historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. As of 2022, its population was roughly 289,330. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after national capital Oslo. The municipality covers 465 square kilometres (180 sq mi) and is located on the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen. The city centre and northern neighbourhoods are on Byfjorden, 'the city fjord'. The city is surrounded by mountains, causing Bergen to be called the "city of seven mountains". Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are on islands. Bergen is the administrative centre of Vestland county. The city consists of eight boroughs: Arna, Bergenhus, Fana, Fyllingsdalen, Laksevåg, Ytrebygda, Årstad, and Åsane.
Hordaland was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipality, which is located in Bergen. Before 1972, the city of Bergen was its own separate county, apart from Hordaland. On 1 January 2020, the county was merged with neighbouring Sogn og Fjordane county, to form the new Vestland county.
Bergens Tidende is Norway's fifth-largest newspaper, and the country's largest newspaper outside Oslo.
Pendleton Woolen Mills is an American textile manufacturing company based in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is known for its blankets and woolen clothing.
Bergen Station is the main railway station in the city of Bergen, Norway. It is a terminal station on the Bergen Line, and serves trains from Oslo as well as the Bergen Commuter Rail from Arna, Voss and Myrdal. It is located on the east side of the city centre and has four platforms. The station was opened in 1913, four years after the Bergen Line itself opened; it replaced a former main station that was located further west.
Scandinavian design is a design movement characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality that emerged in the early 20th century, and subsequently flourished in the 1950s throughout the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland.
Events in the year 1982 in Norway.
Peter Jebsen was a Norwegian businessperson and politician. He was the founder of Dale of Norway.
Valestrandfossen or Valestrandsfossen is a village in the municipality of Osterøy, adjacent to Norway's second-largest city and municipality Bergen, Vestland county. It lies at Sørfjorden 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) to the west and 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of the municipal centre of Lonevåg. Sites worth mentioning include Hamre and Hamre Church.
Events in the year 1953 in Norway.
Dale of Norway is a Norwegian clothing brand known for their production of high quality pure wool knitwear. The textile factory for the company is located at the village of Dale in Vaksdal Municipality, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. In 2018, Dale of Norway was acquired by the Rossignol Group.
Nydalens Compagnie was a company in Nydalen, Oslo, Norway. It was founded in 1845 as a textile manufacturer, and from 1963 to 1998 it was a real estate company.
(Mary Ann) Elizabeth Stephansen was a Norwegian mathematician and educator. She was one of the first Norwegian women to be awarded a doctorate degree.
Bård Breivik was a Norwegian sculptor and art instructor.
Solveig Hisdal is a Norwegian graphic designer and fashion designer. She is best known for her knitwear designs for Oleana where she has been the designer since the company was established in 1992.
Ivar Anton Waagaard is a Norwegian pianist. He has collaborated with several Norwegian artists like Sigmund Groven, Ole Edvard Antonsen, Arve Tellefsen, Truls Mørk, Aage Kvalbein, Solveig Kringlebotn, Randi Stene, Aage Kvalbein, Tora Augestad, Jannike Kruse, Silje Nergaard, Jonas Fjeld and Lars Klevstrand.
Arild Midthun is a Norwegian illustrator, cartoonist and comics artist. He was born in Bergen.
Rasmus Meyer was a Norwegian industrialist, mill owner and art collector. He is most commonly associated with the Rasmus Meyer art collection in Bergen.
Synnøve Korssjøen is a Norwegian goldsmith.
Ellinor (Lilla) Dagmar Flor née Bjærshol is a Norwegian textile artist. Inspired by folk art, her designs have principally focused on women's hats and costumes, frequently combining knitting and embroidery. She has also created church textiles and fabrics for furniture. For her success in renewing Norway's interest in knitting, in 1992 she was awarded the Jacob Prize. Flor is considered to be one of Norway's most distinctive clothing designers. Her works are in the collections of a number of museums, including Norway's National Museum.
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