How the Olsen Twins Built The Row's Cult Following

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Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are among the few celebrities who have managed to successfully brave the critics and reinvent themselves as fashion powerhouses. They launched their careers as fashion designers 10 years ago with The Row, and multiple CFDA awards and a cult following later, they're still shocked by the success. In an interview with Anne Slowey for Elle, the twins admitted that they never envisioned The Row as the extremely upscale, extremely minimalist line that it has become.

Instead, as Slowey describes it, the $1,000 leather leggings and $39,000 alligator-skin backpack that has become The Row's signature "just sort of happened." The line is now pulling in tens of millions in sales and is stocked in over 145 boutiques and department stores across the US. "Every move that we've made through the past 10 years has been step-by-step," the twins told Slowey. "One item at a time. We sit and look at everything in every possible version of how you might wear it. We are all about making our clothes work with reality."
· Beyond The Row: Inside Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's Magic Method [Elle]
· Six Excruciatingly Awkward Seconds in the Olsen Twins' Life [Racked]
· The Olsen's First Wedding Dress is the Stuff of Bohemian Fantasy [Racked]