“I don’t know anything about fashion whatsoever,” says Marie Ulven, known as Girl in Red, as a groomer combs through her hair and she fiddles with her watch. That statement may have been true a week ago, but with her first New York Fashion Week under her belt, the Norwegian musician is now much more of an expert than she claims to be.
After taking in Eckhaus Latta and Khaite, Ulven was on to her third and final show, Tory Burch, held at the New York Public Library. She’d selected a blazer, collared shirt, trousers and a pair of deep red loafers from the brand for her look for the show.
“My thing is just to be very low key, not overdressed. I’m comfortable wearing this, but I don’t want to go any further,” she says of her personal style. “Basically, my style is a little bit all over the place right now, but I do like looking nice, looking like I took a shower, put on a shirt.”
A nice shirt has become a staple of her onstage look.
“I realized that the shirt gave me a lot of new confidence. It was like, ‘oh my God, I can be a performer with the shirt on.’ So I realized the power of changing my clothes before playing the show,” she says. “So this year, I’m going on tour in April and I’m planning on leveling up the clothing stuff. New shirts, everything. Maybe they’re even steamed.”
After opening for Taylor Swift in 2023, Ulven will embark on her own tour this year, in promotion of her sophomore album “I’m Doing It Again Baby!” which is out April 12. She worked on the album for roughly 18 months, struggling with writing lyrics throughout.
“The words didn’t come to me at all. I had all the production and stuff, but I really didn’t have the vocals and the words down, which is unfortunately because a song needs it,” she says dryly. “But then toward the end of 2023, maybe August, I was like, ‘OK, I just have to get some words down. For f–k’s sake, Marie.’ Then I did it and then I was like, ‘oh my god, I did it again. I’m doing it again, baby.’”
Her interest in watches began while working on the new album. Never before a watch fan, she started learning about them from a producer on the album who one day arrived at the studio with an Omega watch on his wrist.
“And then we started talking about Andy Warhol and we started talking about Princess Diana and all these people had these cool Cartiers and I was like, ‘wow, that’s such a cool history with this cool watch.’ So basically I started really getting into the Cartier universe because of the cool New York history around it,” she says. “Making album two was a pain in the ass. It was a rough ride. So we were like, ‘OK, when we finish this album, we’re going to get matching Cartiers.’”
The end result — a Cartier Tank with a black leather strap — is engraved on the back with the album title.
She’s also on the hunt for a red Louis Vuitton duffel, after seeing Jacob Elordi carry a yellow version through the airport, as well as a red Speedy bag from the brand.
“I like cool travel things. I feel like travel is a whole aesthetic,” she says.
On the tour she’s excited to lean into fashion more onstage, as well as for the audience to see her set designs.
“It’s all inspired by my Italian lamps that I have back home. I’m very much into Italian design,” she explains. “I’m very excited for everyone to see the new show.”
