How the Olsen twins made The Row a success charging exorbitant prices with no logo or advertising

The Frieze contemporary art fair is a good indicator of the number of rich individuals who flock to the cities where it is held. Fair dates are ones that fashion firms should have circled on their calendars. At a past fair in London, a multi-brand fashion store organized a pop-up store in one of the most expensive areas in the British capital. Champagne was served in an impeccably decorated space, with opulent designs displayed on mannequins. There, fair attendees shared opinions on digital art and up-and-coming galleries. One of the guests, dressed in a variety of cream tones, walked in, took a quick glance and asked if they sold The Row. The clerk apologetically replied that they did not. The fan of the minimalist brand promptly walked out the door without so much as a sip of champagne. Oops.

Not including Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen’s brand at a space dedicated to high fashion is a miscalculation, but it is an understandable one. Since the Olsen sisters founded the brand in 2007, The Row has been defined by an attitude that might be described as ostentatiously understated. Perhaps to offset the fame that has followed them since childhood, the Olsens created a brand without a visible logo that avoids any obvious advertising and has a limited presence on social media. This silence is complemented by prices so high that they are prohibitively expensive for aspirational customers. So, who wears The Row? The answer is people who are invisible to the common mortal, those with whom we will probably never cross paths, who do not want to experiment with their closet, and who stock up on $1,600 sweaters the way others go to Uniqlo sales.

For all this eagerness to be exclusive, it’s surprising that The Row debuted as one of the most searched brands last quarter in The Lyst Index rankings. According to the fashion retail platform, searches for The Row increased 93% during the last three months of 2023. Its Margaux model bag, which costs between €3,000 ($3,243) and €6,000 ($6,487), was the most coveted product during the same time period, with a year-on-year search increase of 198%. This tells us that something must be changing at The Row’s New York offices, and not just because the collections — known for their reduced color palette — suddenly contain touches of carmine red.

At the end of 2023 Mary-Kate, the current creative director, and Ashley, the CEO, granted a rare interview to the Financial Times. In it, the Olsens claim that the company is growing at around 20% to 30% each year, and that their goal is to maintain control over their brand so that it grows sustainably. They also complained about still being referred to as “the girls,” even though they are both 37 and have their own business.

Rare news leaks about the brand have not always been positive. In fact, the pandemic put The Row in difficult financial straits. Reportedly, half of the employees, including several design directors, were laid off in 2020. The staffing cuts came after the departure of the company’s president David Schulte, who subsequently sued the sisters; today, Trish Donnelly, formerly of Calvin Klein, occupies that position. In addition, industry media reported that high production costs have forced the brand’s workshops to move from the United States to Italy, calling into question its “Made in the USA” label. On top of that, the firm has been accused of racial inequality because of the lack of diversity in its workforce.

The sisters have not spoken out directly on these issues, and they continue to lead extremely private lives. Little is known about them: Reportedly, Ashley married her partner, artist Louis Eisner, and they had a baby together in 2023. A couple of years ago, Eisner posted a photo of Ashley carrying a beer and a machete that left his Instagram followers speechless. We know that in 2020 Mary-Kate petitioned for an emergency divorce from Olivier Sarkozy, the brother of the former French president. The rest of their activities can be seen on Instagram accounts that follow their movements and often post photos of the sisters smoking on their work breaks.

The Olsen twins have been in the public eye since they were 9 months old, when they started on the show Full House where they played Michelle Tanner, the family’s youngest daughter. Eight seasons later, the sisters were almost teenagers and child stars. Having barely come of age, they were already burnt out from show business and decided to create The Row, a tribute to London’s Savile Row, which is known for classic tailoring.

The original idea was based on designing the perfect shirt, and over the years they have maintained this process, identifying everyday garments and obsessively refining them to sell them at premium prices. According to the sisters, their garments aim to make life easier for the wearer, creating a sort of upscale, trend-conscious secular nun’s uniform.

The question is why the brand has been increasing its exposure in recent months, despite its supposed pathological shyness. Perhaps the strategy consists of projecting an aura of mystery, limited access and exclusivity, when in reality The Row has robust distribution channels. The brand has three physical stores (in New York, Los Angeles and London), its own e-commerce and a presence on almost all multi-brand websites such as Net-A-Porter, Matches Fashion, MyTheresa, SSENSE and Farfetch. The Row even organized a special sample sale in New York in October. Put simply, the Olsens are not as elusive as Phoebe Philo, even if the latter is their model.

The Row’s LinkedIn account doesn’t have a single news item posted and its Instagram profile shows more artwork and designer furniture than clothing, but that doesn’t mean the brand doesn’t participate in popular culture. Quiet luxury casts a long shadow, and perhaps after Succession rendered visible this boring style for rich people, followers of fashion have become more interested in brands like The Row. Its Margaux bag has been seen on the arms of celebrities like Kendall Jenner, Zoë Kravitz and Jennifer Lawrence, which coincides with the current online popularity reported by The Lyst Index. On the other hand, Cate Blanchett’s character in Tár wears a coat from The Row, which, as Bina Daigeler (who was also in charge of designs at Cristóbal Balenciaga) said, practically blew the film’s wardrobe budget.

But the Olsens’ success most likely has to do with the fact that the commercial is king in the fashion industry today. Many designers feel pressure from above and struggle to balance creative vision with money. But at The Row there is no such tension. Prices are reassuringly high for its customers, and its offerings don’t challenge the status quo or spark new conversations. The brand’s devotees may go to sleep surrounded by a turbulent world, shaken by violence and geopolitical crises, but when they wake up, The Row is still there, cashmere soft and in the same old colors.

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