Monday, March 2, 2021: Through the years, I feel as though I’ve grown up with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. As a child, I loved Full House and It Takes Two so much that the titles earned a spot in my family’s VHS tape collection. These days, The Row co-founders, now 34, are much quieter and more mysterious than I’m willing to bet their childhood selves could ever dream they’d be. As an adult, I’m still fascinated by their behavior all the same.
I admit that I own fewer silhouettes from the high-end label than I do the aforementioned VHS tapes. Nevertheless, I stay up to date with the twins’ far and few interviews and reports to fuel the part of me that’s left unfulfilled since they aren’t on social media. Most recently, my coworkers and I have been chatting about a feature published by The Cut on Tuesday, March 2. The piece investigates how The Row is faring amid the coronavirus pandemic and simultaneously offers interesting tidbits we never knew about the label or the designers.
Ahead, GRAZIA breaks down five key takeaways from the piece, worthy of bringing up at your next Zoom cocktail hour with friends.
The Row’s Los Angeles flagship Houses Picasso Ceramics
A source told the outlet that he was surprised to see Pablo Picasso ceramics displayed so dangerously close to for-sale footwear at The Row’s Los Angeles Store on Melrose: “I thought, Wow, what if somebody grabs a shoe and the vase falls?” A curator of the twins’ London location, however, is unconcerned by the art placement. “The things are very safe there,” he told The Cut, revealing, “There are pieces of furniture in the store that are worth three times what the sculptures are worth.”
Mary-Kate Olsen Doesn’t Believe in Ashtrays
A friend of the designers told The Cut that Mary-Kate doesn’t see the need for an ashtray when she smokes. Apparently, one of her iconic sayings is, “The ash fairy will get it.”
The Designers Say “No” to Opportunities beyond the Row
A top executive at a major luxury group told the publication that, similar to the sisters’ disinterest in social media, the Olsen twins are uninterested in seeking high-level opportunities outside of their label. Even so, the exec says they frequent lists of prospective talent to “take over this or that historic fashion house.”
The Label’s Loyalists Have Been Known to Buy 30 (Yes, 30!) Row Sweaters at a Time
Marina Larroudé, former fashion director at Barneys New York, told the outlet that a loyal customer once walked in and bought 30 Row sweaters from the fallen retailer. “She bought everything we had in the company in her size so she would never run out of them,” she told the outlet. Since then, she’s attested that “super-wealthy” women in New York shop at The Row in the same fashion that a majority “go to Uniqlo.”
For Some of the row’s Clients, a trip to the store is therapeutic
Andy Reiff, an actor and stylist’s assistant, tells The Cut that a trip to The Row is therapeutic in its own right. “You know how Holly Golightly says she goes to Tiffany’s when she feels sad, when she gets the mean reds? I’ve noticed that when I’m in a bad mood, I can go to The Row. I get to talk, and I get to be surrounded by these beautiful things.”
