In 2006, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Launched The Row. Now, the Brand’s $400+ T-Shirts Are Constantly Selling Out
In 2006, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Launched The Row. Now, the Brand’s $400+ T-Shirts Are Constantly Selling Out
Michelle LeeThu, September 3, 2026 at 9:20 PM UTC
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Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen pictured at the 2019 CFDA Fashion AwardsCredit: Nicholas Hunt/Getty -
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s The Row has stood for quiet luxury since the inception of the brand in the early 2000s
While studying at New York University, the two began designing the “perfect white tee” for a non-profit organization, then ended up selling their shirts in an expanded collection through their own label
Over the past 20 years, the brand has gone viral for its luxury looks but continues to maintain a sense of elusiveness around its fashion shows
In 2005, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen set the scene for quiet luxury two decades before the term took over fashion.
After starring in the hit sitcom Full House and their own films, including New York Minute and Passport to Paris, the actresses and real-life twin sisters, now 40, felt an itch for design while attending New York University.
“When we were 18, we decided to take a step back and go to school. But after a year at NYU, I think we were kind of bored because we were used to constantly juggling both worlds!” Ashley told Interview magazinein 2011.
As a side project, they began designing the “perfect white tee” without any logos or branding, but rather a gold chain, for The ONE Campaign. When that fell through, they pivoted to what would become known as The Row, a brand named after Savile Row, a street located in London’s Mayfair area with a nearly 200-year history of bespoke tailoring.
Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen at The Row presentation on November 20, 2014 in Munich, GermanyCredit: Gisela Schober/Getty
From the time it was created around 2006 to now, The Row has prided itself on “exceptional fabrics, impeccable details, and precise tailoring.” And it made sense for the pair, who to this day stay elusive and away from the spotlight in terms of their private lives and projects, to create something that, as Mary-Kate explained seven years ago to British Vogue, “something that speaks for itself.”
“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,” the designers told the outlet in an interview published in April 2019.
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Ashley admitted that getting their business off the ground was “very hard at the beginning” and even in recent years, but the simplicity paid off and landed their designs at Barneys New York. The duo explained to Interview that the core designs for The Row’s first collection included a tank top, dress, blazer and stretch-leather leggings.
Mary-Kate Olsen, Elizabeth Olsen and Ashley Olsen at a handbag launch party for The Row at Barneys New YorkCredit: Steve Eichner/WWD/Penske Media/Getty
The latter was an article of clothing that Mary-Kate described as a “crazy idea” to most, but “then everybody wanted them.”
That has been the trajectory of the brand for the past 20 years. The Olsens may have no qualms about retailing their basic designs for hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, but there’s a special something that has their signature pieces — such as their Margaux bags and their $1,390 Pirro T-Shirt — flying off the racks. It could be the sway from unofficial ambassadors Kendall Jenner, Jennifer Lawrence and Zoë Kravitz, who’ve made minimalism a cool-girl staple, or its lack of branding and ironic privacy, put to practice with their very secretive no-phone seasonal fashion shows, that entices consumers, Hollywood or not, to come back for me.
Still, the Olsens — whose experience in clothing design tracks back to their teen collaboration with Walmart — have become respectable in the business of fashion despite their humble beginnings.
In 2009, they were called to join the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), “making them two of the youngest members ever inducted,” according to the CFDA website. They were also nominated for the CFDA’s Swarovski Award for Womenswear category and received two nominations for Womenswear Designer of the Year. In November 2025, they were awarded the council’s American Accessory Designer of the Year award.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
