Courtesy Net-a-Porter
As the fashion masterminds behind successful fashion lines including The Row, Elizabeth and James and Olsenboye, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are now known more for their design careers than their acting careers — and that’s just the way they like it. But they do confess that their earliest passion for clothing started around age six, as they jointly played the role of Michelle Tanner on the family sitcom Full House.
“We’d be in six-hour fittings three times a week, because we had to wear 12 different outfits,” Ashley says in this week’s edition of Net-a-Porter.com’s The Edit (and as the article notes, the clothing often was top designer labels like Chanel and Marc Jacobs, cut to fit their tiny frames). Adds Mary-Kate: “We were designing clothes for ourselves as we were so petite. So I think that is when we became obsessed with fit, and now the obsession has become a profession.”
PHOTOS: Vote on stars’ red carpet style in Last Night’s Look!
Though their marquee names and years in the business may have helped their lines get off the ground, both stars say they’re hoping for a more low-profile role going forward. “Anonymity is a word we talk about all the time, in life and in clothes,” Ashley says, before explaining, “If you are wearing a Chanel jacket and you need an anonymous piece that will show just how special that jacket is, I hope that is what The Row gives you.”
And if they can’t fly more under-the-radar? Then they plan to use their name to help out emerging designers in the future reach the same style acclaim they have been able to over the past few years. Read more about their future goals and hope for their brands at The Edit, then tell us: Would you ever have pegged Michelle Tanner as a high-fashion five-year-old? What do you think of the Olsens’ designs now?
–Alex Apatoff
