Impeccable. The Row Resort 2024

March 3, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Those The Row outings the Olsen twins bring to Paris Fashion Week are impeccable. They are the peak of sophistication, understated luxury and intriguing tailoring, but as well much-needed moments of serenity after nearly a month of constant fashion influx. They also serve as a reminder that longevity resulting from great design and top-notch quality is so much better and more rewarding than the dumb pursuit after newness – which often in contemporary fashion feels rather flat than truly innovative. To the tune of hypnotic 1979 goth anthem “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen‘s latest offering was presented in a chic hôtel particulier. There was a beautiful opening of all-black looks in the form of The Row’s new coat shape, double breasted, tailored with a wide shouldered ease, a scarf-like panel dropping over one sleeve. Appropriately enough, evening got in on the act too; for some time now there has been the incisive way they’ve been experimenting with all sorts of folding and draping, best seen here on a strapless black ensemble, with sleeves wrapped to cinch the waist. That the Olsens are committed to all manner of creative construction was underscored by so much of that sumptuous outerwear, particularly a (yet another) black coat, masculine and classic in shape, but with the surprise of the shoulder construction was tacked onto the shoulders. Though not everything was dark, dark, dark. Sensational color would appear every now and again: an eau de nil evening dress, magically created out of what looked like interwoven ribbons; a classic clutch coat in vermillion.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Harbor of Fineness. The Row AW23

January 29, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

The Row‘s intensely refined autumn-winter 2023 read-to-wear collection matched the couture ambience of the last week. Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen didn’t show in Paris, but dropping a new collection in such specific time-frame speaks for itself. The craft, the tailoring, the materials, the silhouettes. The ultra-luxurious and elegantly-understated vision of the The Row woman (and man) is absolutely haute. The new season offering sees the Olsens’ timeless regulars (masculine boxy suits, cashmere coats with shawl-like capes, over-sized crisp cotton shirts – very Lydia Tár!) combined with an ease of flowing shapes (see the floor-sweeping black skirt styled with a boyish blazer) and chic, Armani-like narrowings at the waist. The colors are all about earthy neutrals – another The Row favorite. Trends come and go, but The Row is a peaceful harbor of eternal fineness.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Balm To The Soul. The Row Pre-Fall 2023

October 1, 2022October 1, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

Seeing The Row in the middle of Paris Fashion Week schedule is like having an exquisite, delightful, and very expensive dessert – say, a Cedric Grolet pastry. The refinement and serenity of Ashley and Mary Kate Olsens’ clothes, and of their pre-fall 2023 show, was a visual balm to the soul. An ivory duchesse satin evening dress, with a gently inflated aeration of volume at the back, any hauteur swept away by how the fabric has been made to look frayed and creased, like it was just pulled out of a trunk and thrown on with a what-the-hell shrug. A timeless LBD with gently sculpted hips. A crochet slip worn over a gauzy longer slip. These garments are to die for. The Row’s latest take on serenity doesn’t equal perfection, and a good thing too, something that the Olsens played up with some styling touches, like the wrinkled hose, or a mesh tube dress squished over a white cotton shirt whose hems went floorwards. A little bit of mess to cut the precision is always good. Or you might register it as you see a loose cut black blazer walk by, with the surprise of the armholes cleverly opened so you can slide your arms out and wear it more like a vest, with a matching pair of natty Bermuda shorts. The use of sleeves was a recurring motif here; as a gestural flourish, holding a dress in place at the back, looking like an Obi sash, for instance. Much has been made of the Olsens’ propensity for beautiful fabrics for even more beautifully made clothes, and it’s true on both counts. But there’s something else going on here: A little bit of dissonance, a touch of playfulness, shading and toning their exquisite clothes. Showing in Paris definitely suits them – remember their last show? Pre-fall 2023 felt like a beautiful continuation of that story.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Essentialism. The Row SS23

July 4, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

While we quickly forgot most of the valuable lessons we told ourselves the pandemic had taught us, it does seem to have affected one aspect of our lives: our approach to clothes shopping. Somehow our choices now feel less fussy, less complicated, more essential. Granted, essentialism has always coursed through the veins of The Row. This season, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen took it to sublime heights. Shot in the streets of Paris and presented in the Galerie Seguin, their spring-summer 2023 collection portrayed the daily lives of their customers and the way we adapt to changing scenarios throughout the day. Whether it’s different levels of formality – office hours, lunch dates, evening events – or the inside-vs.-outside temperature differences we all increasingly have to deal with in a climate change reality, the clothes we actually wear now have to imbued with certain functions and assets to actually work in our everyday lives. That fact informed a collection of more-than-meets-the-eye garments founded in considered fabric choices and functional design. Putting lightness at the forefront, the Olsens structured suits and dresses in luxurious, breathable linens, while linen trench coats came with fabric coatings that made them feel outerwear-y without defeating the purpose. A number of pieces were instilled with day-to-night folding techniques, allowing the wearer to transform their level of formality. The train of a jute dress, for instance, could be folded into the dress itself and buttoned or let out for the full dramatic effect, the hoods of coats were detachable, and the sleeves of a black dress could be unhooked by way of tiny closures. As an ironic nod to the wardrobe issues we all deal with in the heat, a leather skirt was adorned with creases as a form of texture.

The idea of essentialism also informed the Olsens’ level of details and decoration, or rather lack thereof. Everything was made as minimal as possible but without compromising the sense of drama that made this collection a fashion proposition. They cut away necklines to create plunge shapes, disguised hems and pockets, and removed zips and buttons. In menswear, they gave super-light unlined suiting the structure you usually only get from lining through the kind of fabrication that makes The Row worth its price tag, and proposed the kind of luxe oversized shirts and loose-fitting knits that made you want to invest in a new wardrobe for a changed climate. Heavenly…

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Jackie And Carolyn. The Row Resort 2023

March 4, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

After two years off the runway, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen brought their resort 2023 collection for The Row to Paris. They weren’t doing interviews and the brand didn’t release a statement, but when American designers have swapped New York for Paris in the past they’ve typically talked about the city’s more international audience and elevated playing field. The Olsens need little help with their profiles, so let’s assume they thought they had something new to say about their fashion. As it turned out, they did, and it speaks volumes. The line-up finds them in a more playful frame of mind than we’ve come to associate with The Row. The elegance and sophistication remain, but they also dabbled in hyperbole, in the form of extra-long sleeves and neck grazing, exaggerated 1970s collars, and explored surprising retro flourishes like pillbox hats, muffs, and top handle bags in the crooks of arms. If Jackie Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy joined wardrobes, this The Row collection would be it. Some looks, including an evening dress made with a chartreuse-colored wool blanket wrapped and draped from the torso, reminded you of the Japanese designers who made their own transitions to Paris in the 1980s. Is the Olsens’ minimalist phase over? Not exactly. Most of these looks were head-to-toe monochrome or black-and-white, and there were no prints or much in the way of other distractions. The silhouette was still rooted in tailoring and the shoes were low-heeled and grounding. The difference was this collection’s looseness. Not in terms of volumes, but in terms of the fun it was willing to have. See the fine cashmere sweaters that twisted in back to reveal the white poplin shirts below them, the jabots as oversize as the pointy collars they accessorized, the back-to-front coats, and those long sleeves. Graceful fashion that makes you smile feels like the right instinct for the current moment.