Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (March 2011 - June 2011)

[Bellechloe]

I wanna know the shades id too!!

 

[sill]

I'm guessing they're The Row 'Lennon' sunglasses.

barneys.com

Or were you talking about the one with where she's carrying a book?
If so I reckon they're The Row as well. Don't know which model though.

 

[Thefrenchy]

Anyone knows what's the brand of Ashley's glasses in the latest set of candids ?? They are really cool.

If you're talking about the ones she's wearing when she's holding the Manet book, they're The Row and available on the brand's website.

 

[Wolkfolk]

If you're talking about the ones she's wearing when she's holding the Manet book, they're The Row and available on the brand's website.

Yes, I was talking about those. Thank's for the iD I'll check them on their website.

 

[dauphine]

I like those sunglasses a lot, but that shape is everywhere this season.

 

[Valentine27]

Agree about Mkay looking bad*ss in that outfit! It's fun the way they are both wearing each other clothes.

 

[starsid33]

if i had to choose...i prefer ashley's cleaner/fresher look. MK looks cool...but i don't think she will ever be able to pull off the "all-natural-don't give a $**t cool" attitude from her college days and pre-2008 (as in, before she fudged her face). ashley surprisingly has maintained the spark from their teen years....which (at least it think) made them so fun to look at. it's a pretty big deal when you have a set of twins...and they both end up maturing into naturally beautiful girls. it just sucks that MK, in her pursuit of perfection, ruined what is so rare in life: perfectly synchronized features and smashing good looks.

 

[dauphine]

I would still rather steal MK's wardrobe if I have to choose, but I agree with you about everything else. Ashley always looks more well-rested, but perhaps that is part of the 'appeal' for me of MK. Who can say really.

 

[MaybeJaded]

Mary-Kate was at the "Celebrating 25 Years Of "Style Wars" - Dinner", gettyimages has pics

She looks so much like Ash in this picture, it has been a while since I see such pic.

they have more on their site:

http://www.gettyimages.pt/Search/Se...=editorial&p=Mary+Kate+olsen&assetType=image#

 

[loonaka]

I she looks cute^^ I love her hair
Thanks for posting

 

[LolaSvelt]

Catherine Keener.

Ashley Olsen leaving her hotel in New York City (May 25th 2011).

tlfan

 

[Nico Cameo]

The hair looks terrible...

 

[MrFalconer]

The Future Of Fashion, Part 8: Ashley And Mary-Kate Olsen

In this ongoing series, Style.com’s editor in chief, Dirk Standen, talks to a number of leading industry figures about the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the fashion business.

Dualstar, the world headquarters of Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen’s numerous enterprises, isn’t some high-tech fortress. Set on a nondescript Chelsea block, it’s a low-key loft building that seems to have evaded condo-ization. Step inside and you could be entering the studio of any up-and-coming downtown designer. There are the bare wood floors, the nice flowers, the cartons of takeout food. It’s all very normal, and you sense that’s important to these refugees from massive childhood fame.

At a stage in life where many of their peers are vying for a slot on Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew, the Olsens are appearing in 130 stores worldwide with their luxury fashion label The Row, and they have been nominated for the Swarovski Award for Womenswear, the top honor for emerging talent, at next month’s Council of Fashion Designers of America gala. They are among the few celebrities to make critically acclaimed clothes (Ashley, right, long ago gave up acting and Mary-Kate now says she is too busy to pursue it, too), and nothing is typical about their approach. They sell their line Olsenboye to JCPenney at the same time that they sell The Row to Bergdorf Goodman, they deliberately aim The Row at women much older than themselves, and though they were born into the digital generation, their embrace of social media is a wary one. Still just 24, they are literally part of the future of fashion.

In conversation, the sisters are by turns articulate and guarded. They’ve done the media dance before and they’re not going to be drawn out of their comfort zone. Ask them about John Galliano’s meltdown and you won’t get much. Ashley: “I think he’s an amazing designer.” Mary-Kate: “I think he’s a brilliant designer.” That’s not to say they lack warmth. They laugh frequently, and though they speak in soft tones, they’re not afraid to meet your gaze with their startled, green-tinted eyes. Ashley is in some ways the designated spokesperson for the pair, Mary-Kate the quieter and funnier one, but their roles are more fluid than that, and yes, they frequently complete each other’s sentences. Here they shed some light on the design process behind The Row, the accidental way they became fashion icons, and the reason Twitter makes them anxious.

You have three or four lines now, The Row, Elizabeth and James, Textile Elizabeth and James, and Olsenboye. Was it a conscious decision to have different lines to address different segments of the market?
Ashley: No, it kind of developed over time. It started when we were 10, working with Walmart, so we already had a mass brand that was the Mary-Kate and Ashley brand. It was our names, it was our faces. The design development process was really done in house as well, so we went all through that process. Then we kind of stopped when we were 18 and came here for school, started developing the concept of The Row during our first and second year of school. While this was coming to fruition we started doing Elizabeth and James, too. Several months later…

Mary-Kate: I think everything kind of happened organically.

A: It just sort of organically started. Things come up and it depends on the timing, if we think it’s a good idea. We started doing handbags for The Row in our fifth year, which haven’t hit stores yet. Just slow growth, organic.

Were you concerned that having a line like Olsenboye, which sells at JCPenney, would detract from building a luxury label like The Row?
A: No, I think they’re just totally different markets, and we approach each market very differently but with the same integrity and the same intent. With The Row we manufacture and produce everything in the U.S, and in Italy for the handbags and one or two sweater styles. Elizabeth and James, Olsenboye is a licensed brand, so that is not in this house. We do a lot of our marketing and PR out of this office, a lot of the design and development process is in our partner’s office…We’re extremely involved in that design process; we’re just not taking on the operations.

You have separate design teams for each line?
A: Yes.

Specifically on The Row, where does the design process start for you?
A: It all starts with the fabrics…Then we go into kind of silhouette development, so we start figuring out our silhouettes, what we’re liking, what we’re leaning towards, an evolution of the previous season, certain pieces, so it really starts with this stylized proportion. Then, through that process, we start our pattern making off the silhouettes that we’re liking and the consistent themes that we start finding, the shapes. So we start twisting the fabrics and then we start trying different fabrics and patterns. And once we have all the fabrics, we have about three weeks to produce the collection.

That’s a different process from a lot of designers, who are inspired by this trip they just took or a photo they came across.
MK: You’d have to take a lot of trips, no?

The Row has become known for a sort of minimalist luxury. Do you feel your last collection [Fall 2011] was a departure?
A: More elaborate.

MK: Yeah, we haven’t really done a lot of color, and slowly over the seasons we’ve explored that a bit. And different techniques as well when it comes to the fur, beading, lace. But if you go through our entire collection, you’ve seen it all before. Meaning, pieces repeat. That fur T-shirt, for example, that’s this T-shirt [points to plain one she’s wearing] from a couple of seasons ago, so it’s always consistent. It’s just about how we can evolve and also give the option to either buy this version or that version, creating a story.

Do you have an ideal customer in mind for The Row?
A: I think a lot of different women pop into my mind, just because we were raised by a lot of very chic women and just constantly working…so I think we do think of a lot of different women. What’s great is that it really is an ageless collection. I think 30 to 60 is the core of our customers, and it’s someone who’s really educated on the fabrics and the fit. That’s the information that’s trickled back to us and it’s kind of what it is.

There’s a feeling that a lot of designers, older designers, only make clothes that work for a 16-year-old model on the runway. But you guys are 24…
A: 25 in June.

…and you’ve deliberately set out to appeal to a broader cross section.
A: When we first started the T-shirts and the dresses, we tried it on bodies that were our bodies and we tried it on our parent’s bodies and our friends’ parents’ bodies. So that was kind of an important process that we took in the beginning, as to why something works on someone older, why it doesn’t, why it works on someone young, and why it doesn’t, and to not get rid of a customer base.

How do you handle the responsibility of having these different lines?
A: I don’t think it’s the creative process that has ever gotten to us. More than anything, it’s about trying to find balance with work and how we can personally stay balanced while having our corporations grow, and I think that’s been the biggest thing that we are constantly aware of. We have to put boundaries on scheduling. We work crazy hours every week, so it’s been more about figuring out when we need to put our foot down. “We can’t add this extra meeting. It’s one too many meetings in a day; push it later.” So it’s been about that. And with The Row, it’s about how to elevate the process with growth without putting too much on the overhead.

MK: The creative process is important but so is understanding numbers, the growth of the company, what you can handle, what you can’t handle or take on, keeping your team balanced from design to production.

A: So those are things we all work on every day.

MK: And make sure everyone has the support.

How big’s the team on The Row now?
A: The design is two. Tech and sweater tech, patternmaker, seven. Seven then two in production. I’d say there’s about 12 or 14 between design, production, and development. A lot of the team is extremely young and talented and have been with us for a while.

You run the business, too?
A: Yes.

MK: We’re CEOs.

That’s pretty unusual, to be in charge of both the business and creative sides.
A: You do want to keep your creative team just creative. You don’t want to bog them down with numbers. I’ve always been a business and creative person. That’s the way my brain works. I like numbers…but I also love the creative process and I love working with my hands. So between the two of us, we’re so lucky that we have someone to balance and to talk through ideas constantly, so it’s not just one person banging their head against a wall. We do have a dialogue, a constant dialogue, whether it’s regarding our financial infrastructure or a T-shirt. Whatever it is, there’s a constant communication.

I’ve just figured it out for the other designers. They all need a twin. Seriously, though, is that support the most important thing?
A: 100 percent. At the end of the day, we know that every decision we make, we can hold ourselves accountable for it ourselves. There’s no pointing fingers at anyone.

MK: Also, it’s important to have a constant dialogue [and not] get stuck in your own thoughts. Bad day, good day, our dialogue is the most important.

A: And I think that it keeps you focused and grounded and lighthearted, and it kind of always puts things in perspective in regards to other things, in regards to the rest of the world.

Does being in charge of the business help?
A: Yeah. When we were 17, we bought out a partner who was part of Dualstar at the time when we were younger. Not that we had to answer to anyone, but it was just that idea of us knowing at 17 that we really wanted…

MK: …to have control…

A: …to have control. So for The Row we have 100 percent control, and we own our brands, so I do think it’s really important…Because we’ve been working since we were nine months old, we’ve been able to get to this place. And [we’ve] worked in other industries and understand how to run other businesses and corporations and how it’s all the same but different.

MK: I think if we didn’t feel we were capable of doing it, we wouldn’t do it.

And you were able to get to that decision when you were 17 because you’d been exposed to so much all your lives?
In unison: Right.

How has being women affected your designs?
A: I think the way being women has helped us in our designs is that we do a lot of research on what women like, what women don’t like.

MK: Also, for ourselves, we’re really petite, so ever since we were six, eight, we’ve been cutting down clothes to fit our bodies, and that never went away…Just the little things, how the waistband fits, what you want against your skin, and what’s flattering to your body and different body types.
A: What you’ll show and what you won’t show.

MK: Women that will show their arms and won’t show their arms; there’s so many things that women think about.

Do you think the future will be more and more about women designers?
A: It doesn’t seem that way. Like when you look at the up-and-coming designers, there’s not a lot of women.

I guess it leaves the field open for you guys. Have any particular designers inspired you?
A: Fortuny’s always been my favorite, just the ease and the beauty and the colors.

MK: Yohji.

A: Yohji’s always just magical.

MK: There’s a lot of designers.
A: Christian Lacroix.

MK: I mean, old Donna and Calvin Klein, and there are so many.

A: There are so many moments that happen in the fashion industry that, like art, constantly come back as references.

One of the criticisms of contemporary design is that there isn’t enough focus on technique, but technique seems to be important to you.

A: I think how we gained a lot of our techniques and our knowledge is by doing our research and looking at older pieces of clothing and taking it to a pattern maker, so our factory could digest what it is and how it was accomplished and why you could do it back then and you can’t do it now, and how can you accomplish the same thing now. So each season, more and more, we dive deeper into techniques, especially older techniques that aren’t necessarily utilized today.

And you’re able to find the craftspeople?
MK: [There are] a lot of extremely talented craftsmen here.

In New York?
MK: Yes. A lot of Europeans are coming here as well.

You’re in an unusual situation for designers in the sense that you’re also known as fashion icons. Does that term mean anything to you?
A: I don’t think we ever related to anything that anyone calls us, but I think when we moved to New York…You know, we’d been involved in fashion even when we were doing movies at six and we’d have 25 costume changes, so it goes back so much further than that, as to what the public saw when we were doing our videos and our shows and the fashions that we focused on. And the fashion-forward trends, which really started the Walmart business, ’cause there were no cute clothes for kids, no cool clothes for tweens. Or tween didn’t exist—I mean, this is how far this goes back. So it goes back further and maybe that word [icons] just comes out of that.

Continued here.

Source: Style.com

 

[LUXXX]

Fascinating interview...but Ashley sounds like a recluse when she says that she barely ever leaves her house. I believe it. But she shouldn't be so scared of the outside world -- although I guess fame really does freak them out on some level.

 

[MrFalconer]

Fascinating interview...but Ashley sounds like a recluse when she says that she barely ever leaves her house. I believe it. But she shouldn't be so scared of the outside world -- although I guess fame really does freak them out on some level.

I know, it's funny. We see a lot more of Mary-Kate out and about at parties, exhibitions and gallery openings etc. but Ashley, we never see except walking from her house to her car or vice versa. MK does seem to be the extroverted twin.

 

[dajrekshn]

it's absolutely mesmerizing how much they're business capable, CEO's at 24 with over billion profit a year! amazing!

 

[papa_levante]

Could anyone tell if MK was sitting next to Catherine Keener?

 

[MaybeJaded]

thanks for the article and link

I always enjoy reading their interviews, they sound so put together and down to earth, specially Ashley, she seems to be full of contrasts, for one side, I do believe, she's the driving force behind the dulstar and the brands, she always sound very sure of herself and commands attention but on the other hand she a hermit in almost every sense of the word.

 

[MaybeJaded]

from popsugar

they have more pics on the site, but i can't copy/save them.

did Ash cut her hair? or is in a loose pony tail?
wonder if she's going to some event, she looks great.

http://www.popsugar.com/Mary-Kate-Ashley-Olsen-Interview-Fashion-17190464?page=0,0,1#5

 

[MaybeJaded]

from gossipcenter