NATURAL ORDER
Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen bring a unique perspective to those who prefer their fashion meticulously made and understated. By Olivia Singer. Photographed by Craig McDean.
Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen’s The Row brings a unique perspective to those who prefer their fashion meticulously made and understated.
It’s 11.29 on a blustery New York morning when the doorbell rings at Craig McDean’s studio. Instead of being fashionably late, as one might expect from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the twin sisters arrive early, clutching enormous exotic-skinned handbags, their tiny frames swathed in layers of black. “We are professional women, and that’s how we conduct ourselves,” they earnestly impress upon me later in the day. After all, “we’ve been working since we were nine months old”. That discipline has paid off. Now aged 32, they are esteemed designers who have won a devoted customer base the world over. With little training besides what they picked up in the wardrobe departments of Full House and Two of a Kind (the American TV shows that made them household names), or sitting in on meetings for the Walmart clothing line they launched aged 12, they have built something of a fashion empire. It is one that includes The Row and Elizabeth & James, along with a handful of other projects, and is rooted in the kind of good taste and refined aesthetics that may not have defined their TV starlet beginnings but with which they have become synonymous.
The Row, the brand we are here to discuss, is unusual. Not only because it is helmed by these two young women, whose every Starbucks trip has been documented for decades, but also because it determinedly shies away from the press: it never advertises (the Olsens themselves rarely grant interviews) and this season it didn’t even hold a fashion show (instead, a dozen rails of particularly lovely garments were quietly presented in its New York studio).
Throughout our day together – and despite having known photographer Craig McDean for years and taken part in hundreds of shoots – the most apprehensive they appear is when preparing to step in front of his camera. (Later, they sweetly implore me to discard my portrait of them in favour of an image he took of their interlinked hands.)
It’s hard to imagine that their rigorous discretion isn’t a repercussion of their celebutante years, that the scores of
Instagram accounts dedicated to their daily activities and the fervent fandom that still surrounds them don’t play a role in their reluctance to retake centre stage. “We’ve been there, we’ve done that, we started out that way,” sighs Mary-Kate. “But this is the way we chose to move forward in our lives: to not be in the spotlight, to really have something that speaks for itself.”
The Row is clothing designed for women who identify with that spirit, who prefer subtle elegance, plays on proportion and luxurious fabrics to loud or logoembellished extravaganzas. In fact, when the Olsens first started the brand in 2006 (originally as a side project while studying at New York University), with the simple intention of creating the perfect white T-shirt, they had no branding at all, just a hand-stamped gold chain sewn into each neckline.
“The whole exercise was to see whether if something was made beautifully, in great fabric, with good fit, it would sell without a logo or a name on it,” they explain. “And it worked.” That first T-shirt established a solid foundation from which they grew their collection piece by piece, first by selling to a Los Angeles boutique. “For every T-shirt sold, we could make two more,” MaryKate says with a smile. “Then Barneys picked it up, and we developed some more pieces, took them to Paris, hired a salesperson … it was baby steps.” In an industry often suspicious of celebrity designers, it is no small feat that they made their mark. “It was very hard at the beginning,” Ashley remembers. “And, actually, probably until the past couple of years. But we don’t really take things personally. For us, sell-throughs were the only thing we really cared about.” If that has been their main concern, it is easily dismissed: sales have been brilliant, thanks to the sort of women for whom the Olsens’ former careers are of little interest (anyone spending $15,000 on a cashmere coat is unlikely to be doing so because its designers were in the 1999 comedy Passport to Paris).
Money is often no object for The Row’s customers. On one trip to the LA store, I asked why there were no mink slippers on display. The store attendant explained that a woman had swooped in and bought 15 pairs for her dinner party guests to wear (at $2,710 a pair).
Natalie Kingham, buying director at Matchesfashion.com, where the brand is stocked heavily, says: “There is no price resistance to the collection”, and that it maintains a particularly loyal following.
In truth, part of the reason the Olsens understand this world is because they inhabit it: they were once the youngest self-made millionaires in American history; Mary-Kate is married to French financier Olivier Sarkozy, and the sisters have
“This is the way we chose to move forward in our lives: to not be in the spotlight, to really have something that speaks for itself” – Mary-Kate Olsen
“There is a lot of pressure we put on ourselves. I feel like we’re really lucky that we have a great partnership and that we can rely on each other” – Mary-Kate Olsen
built their personal aesthetic on the bohemian insouciance and artful dishevelment only the monied can afford. Equally, they are on first-name terms with plenty of their best customers – in their early years, they’d hold intimate dinners with retailers to familiarise themselves with their market. It was a savvy move, and one that has informed their business ever since. “I feel really fortunate to be very close with those women, and they really do dictate where we go season to season,” says Mary-Kate. “When we design, we’re designing for specific clients. We understand what their day looks like, how and when they travel …” Ashley takes over: “What they’re looking for at a certain time of year; what events come up, their families.”
That understanding means that The Row covers all bases: collections comprise everything from expertly crafted, minimal tailoring (the recently launched menswear has as many female fans as it does male) to sumptuous, sculptural eveningwear in heavy silk mikado or ethereal organza.
Shoes, bags and small leather goods are just as exquisite: from the enormous crocodile or ostrich-skin handbags to tiny wristlets crafted in polished, 3D-printed resin or distressed satin combat boots to those mink slippers. They pay little heed to trends – if anything, they seem to have set the fashion agenda in recent seasons, during which modern minimalism has been the standout aesthetic.
While The Row’s sometimes monastic silhouettes and strict palette can appear austere on the hanger; there is nothing more sensual than wearing it on the body. “We love fabrics – everything comes down to the way something feels,” says Ashley. These are clothes that drape weightlessly, are cut to flatter and on which every stitch, every fastening is forensically considered. In fact, it’s difficult to leave a The Row store without draining your bank account in an effort to channel the aspirational elegance with which each piece is saturated.
The Row’s third store (after LA and New York) is set to open this northern summer in the UK and is almost a homecoming since the brand’s very name is a nod to the precision tailoring of Savile Row. Each has a different feel, but they are united by a tasteful eclecticism and the selection of products the sisters find to fill them.
“Whether presenting a collection in a Dover Street Market store alongside a Jean Prouvé sculpture or notable piece of furniture, The Row excels at quietly communicating its values and aesthetic beyond ready-towear by exploring the Olsens’ taste in design as a broader concept,” explains Dickon Bowden, vice-president of Dover Street Market (The Row does a roaring trade in five of its global stores). “We love curating; we love discovering new products and vintage pieces,” says Ashley. “And London will be totally different, but very much The Row,” continues Mary-Kate. They hope that moving there will introduce the city’s international elite to their vision; that the creative energy of the capital will permeate their new home and the brand as a whole. “There’s still a craft in London. There’s authenticity; there are a lot of artisans based there,” reflects Mary-Kate. “And the art scene is amazing,” enthuses Ashley. “And music. It’s got such great music!”
Sitting with the Olsens is a bizarre experience, because in spite of their huge success – and the fact that neither has an Instagram account, which only amplifies their mystique – they seem remarkably normal young women. Yes, they finish each other’s sentences, brush each other’s carefully tousled hair back from their faces, and claim to spend “every waking hour” together, but they are twins who have grown up in each other’s pockets, so that’s to be expected. Indeed, the most curious thing about them is their unrelenting drive. They don’t have to work, yet regularly put in six-day weeks, merchandise their stores themselves and are involved in each and every brand decision – from fabric choices to the nuances of developing an e-commerce platform.
“There is a lot of pressure we put on ourselves,” says Mary-Kate. “I feel like we’re really lucky that we have a great partnership and that we can rely on each other for support, because I can imagine it can be so lonely.” When I ask where that pressure comes from, they immediately answer in sync: ‘’It’s self-inflicted.”
Mary-Kate continues: “If you want things to be perfect or beautiful, it’s a lot of hard work … Nothing comes easy. That’s just the way we were raised; that’s what we believe is necessary to do something different.”
In a time of frenetic pace and quick-fire success, their quiet, meticulously curated world is just that: different. And for that reason, it’s entirely compelling.