Thefrenchy
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2006
- Messages
- 11,984
- Reaction score
- 1,165
mary-kateandashleyfan
Act 2 for the Olsen twins: A fashion career
By Cindy Clark, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen might never appear together on-screen again, but the twins are still very much a team.
The 21-year-olds made a name for themselves reciting one-liners as little Michelle Tanner on Full House. As children, they made numerous successful home videos aimed at little girls (playing sisters pulling each other out of sticky comedic situations, of course). But they say pairing up on-screen is not in their future.
"If we did something in that sense again, it would be in terms of producing," Ashley says.
Acting aside, "we do everything together," Mary-Kate says.
That would include their new contemporary fashion line, Elizabeth & James, which they have been touting to shoppers on both coasts, first in Los Angeles, then Tuesday night in New York.
After the L.A. event, the petite power team — seated at a table in the garden of Chateau Marmont and sipping drinks (iced soy latte for Ashley, Diet Coke for Mary-Kate) — proudly chatted up their efforts.
"It was amazing, because it's something we worked so hard on, and for the first time, we actually got to see a response," says Ashley about the event at the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus.
The pair worked on the gathering for two months, designing the invitations, décor, menu and music and making after-hours trips to the store to style mannequins. They want to make it very clear that Elizabeth & James isn't just another celebrity-endorsed clothing line. And while their non-famous siblings are Elizabeth, 18, and James Trent, 24, they claim the line isn't named after them, as has been widely reported.
"Can you please clarify that?" Mary-Kate asks, clearly annoyed but still smiling.
It's just a coincidence, they say; they call their sister Lizzie, and their brother Trent.
"We wanted to pick a male name and a female name," Ashley says. "I remember saying Elizabeth and James, and being like, 'Oh, my gosh, that's our brother and sister!' "
While that might be a tough story to sell, the duo's interest in fashion is not. Their image as wide-eyed, pouty-lipped beauties in magazine spreads and clutching coffees out and about in tabloid photos shows a sense of style that, like it or not, has made a mark in fashion history. In 2005, The New York Times explored their bohemian bourgeois "bobo" style and called them "trendsetters for the latest hipster look."
But the E&J line isn't a carbon copy of their own looks. The sisters say they wear simply what feels comfortable. "We dress a certain way, we buy a lot of vintage clothing," says Mary-Kate. "I've always been fascinated by furniture and clothes from a different time. You can change anything by the way you dress, by the way you put it together. It's almost like creating a little fantasy world for yourself, which is how I kind of look at fashion and most of the things I do."
E&J instead aims to combine two looks: a softer, feminine sophisticate (Elizabeth) and a tailored, masculine edge (James).
There are slouchy cardigans, shrunken blazers, a leopard-print coat. With most prices ranging from $145 for leggings to $775 for a leather jacket, it's more accessible pricewise than their other line, The Row, sold in Barneys New York and Harvey Nichols in London. They design both themselves, even doing their own sketches.
They also have the mary-kateandashley licensed brand, for ages 5-12 at Wal-Mart, for which they collaborate with an in-house designer.
'Divide and conquer'
To create E&J, they partnered with Jane Sisken of L'Koral Industries, the company behind contemporary label LaROK.
"Ashley and Mary-Kate are sticklers for detail," Sisken says. "They blow me away. They will look at something and know exactly what needs to be changed."
Because they split their time between New York and Los Angeles, where each has her own home, "we divide and conquer," Ashley says. "We design together, but for fabric selection, fittings, overseeing production. … We always try to have one of us in each city."
They are designing for a hip, young woman who is current on trends but wants to buy quality pieces that will last more than one season, Sisken says. She and the Olsens collaborate with a design team, but every stitch must pass muster with Mary-Kate and Ashley.
"It's our name, and we wouldn't compromise that," Mary-Kate says. "We don't want things that don't represent us and what we can do."
No one can say the twins are thin on work ethic. Ever since they landed the shared role on Full House at 9 months, they have been working. At 18, they took control of their company, Dualstar Entertainment Group, and now serve as co-presidents. In February, they took the top spot on Forbes' Young Hollywood's Top-Earning Stars list.
They are still a bit stunned by their fan base. "The audience from Full House is still around, from kids who are just starting to watch it to grandparents who grew up with it. … Everyone is able to connect with someone," Mary-Kate says. "I'm still amazed how much it has aired and who our audience is, because it's everyone."
But even they are vulnerable to insecurities of a typical twentysomething. At a recent party for shoe designer Christian Louboutin, Ashley left shortly after her arrival. "I felt so underdressed," she says. "I came in jeans and a T-shirt, and everyone was in these dresses with their hair and makeup done. I had not a stitch of makeup on!"
And like many others their age, they're learning how to balance a social life with work. "We've got great friends, and for us, fun is having a dinner and getting together and laughing or watching TV and ordering in," Mary-Kate says.
But, Ashley adds, "what's not fun is if you stay out until 3 o'clock in the morning and you have to show up to work the next day."
Though they have been seen in celebrity magazines for much of their lives, they're not comfortable with media exposure. (That exposure exploded in 2004 with months of speculation about Mary-Kate's appearance. In June that year, she entered treatment for an eating disorder.)
"I don't like being interviewed on-camera; it makes me feel uncomfortable. And I don't like being photographed," Ashley says. "I find that I'm more effective just doing the work behind closed doors."
They're still obviously close, swapping clothes and jewelry, though either could afford warehouses of her own.
"We share stuff, yeah — we kind of have to," says Mary-Kate, wiggling a finger bearing large gothic-style rings and pointing out, "This one's Ashley's."
On her feet: a pair of Ashley's shoes, metallic-studded, black Manolo Blahnik stiletto sandals.
Schoolgirls, interrupted
Both spent time studying at New York University in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study. They're still enrolled, but graduating, they say, was never the goal.
College was "more about the experience, about studying subjects we were interested in and learning what we did and didn't like," says Ashley.
"I wanted to go to school to perfect a passion for interests," Mary-Kate says. "I took advantage of Gallatin to go intern for people and take acting classes outside of NYU but still be able to get credit." Her internships included one with photographer Annie Leibovitz.
"Mary-Kate took it very, very seriously," Leibovitz says. "She really wanted to be one of the guys and worked really hard. I think she really enjoyed it and used photography as an outlet, like I did when I was a young person, to help define herself. She didn't have any special privileges. She went out and got coffee like everyone else did."
Mary-Kate has also kept up her acting chops, appearing in HBO's Weeds and recently wrapping the film The Wackness.
But for now, fashion is their forte. They're hoping for a long designing career, though they realize they've had a boost starting out in the field. "We feel like we've had a head start because we've worked for so long," Ashley says. "But we're only 21."
Mary-Kate interjects, "We're just beginning to get it."
