Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen are at a peak in their creative careers, working in a way that feels instinctive rather than overthought – almost uncontrolled in the best possible sense. As the kids say these days, The Row sisters have reached a kind of flow state. Because what else do you call a perfectly cut black suit, nonchalantly topped with a vintage emerald brooch? It’s a statement of pure confidence. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.
The Row has achieved a rare level of distinctiveness shared only by designers like Yohji Yamamoto and Giorgio Armani: you don’t need to see the full collection – just the silhouettes from afar – to know it’s theirs. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen maintained their signature no-photos policy at their intimate Paris presentation, and the images released for the pre-fall 2026 collection are neither lookbook nor editorial. They are supremely elegant black-and-white portraits of the models (and their comb-adorned hair) and the garments, photographed in the traditional, old-school couture way: front, side, back.
The collection features sublime sack dresses (which make Pierpaolo Piccioli’s attempts at Balenciaga look even more unfortunate), an absolutely heavenly full skirt with a beautifully cinched waist, airy balloon pants that convey sophistication rather than laziness, and a handful of crisp cotton shirts, probably meticulously studied on Charvet.
Once again, the photos reveal little – you can’t fully appreciate the subtle embroideries or sequin work – but they show silhouettes that unmistakably speak one name: The Row.
The Row‘s autumn-winter 2025 outing feels like Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen‘s comfort zone. There’s evidently less experimentation with form and a radical return to minimalism they have already polished to perfection years ago.
The new season images were photographed by Mark Borthwick, whose artful direction of movement and split-frame compositions lead around the season’s more straightforward silhouettes. Some are deceptively simple; see the rounded sleeves of a blouse that ripple down the arms when worn, or the double-layered coat with an exposed lining. Some are legitimately simple, such as the relaxed cuts of several men’s pieces. Meanwhile, tailoring is treated with a fluid touch.
What worries is the Olsens’ obsession with Martin Margiela’s Hermès: they love this moment in fashion so much that they forget the line between inspiration and imitation. And that’s not a very The Row thing to do.
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Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen keep on taking over Paris by storm – a quiet one, but highly impactful. The minimalism they study and channel is reaching unbelievable level of perfection, and nearly every second collection we’ve seen this season is somehow inspired by The Row. Plus, the twins opened their first boutique in town, on the ultra-chic rue de Mont-Thabor, filled with design pearls: dressing-room door by Jean Prouvé that sells on auctions for $101,600, Victor Courtray’s chairs reaching up to $14,000, and Vadim Androusov’s wheat-shaped sconces. The store itself feels like a understated sanctuary, which during Paris Fashion Week was besieged by literally everyone. You could easily spend 30 minutes in the line.
The store opening happened in the same week the Olsens presented their pre-fall 2025 collection. The fashion show had a no-photos policy that some people just couldn’t respect as most industry insiders had a leaked video in their DMs. Lookbook came out a couple of days later, and here’s the thing: the designers are smart about not falling into the hype-trap. They aren’t dramatically voluming up on their creativity just to deliver the clicks; rather, they keep on refining their already-perfect skills in dress-making and tailoring, and also very luxe apparel. Yet there was also a rawer, perhaps more conceptual and lightly experimental edge at work here too; an embrace of where beautiful imperfection could possibly take them. Earthy organza tank, constructed from layers of fabric, over white pants; a gray cocktail dress which looked as though a swathe of raw-edged fabric had been pulled around the body, with a black bodice underneath keeping it in place; and a gorgeous black sheath with a panel which fell in a trail from one shoulder. Sublime.
Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen are in their experimentation mode. No longer bound to uncompromising minimalism they’ve established and refined to razor-sharp perfection throughout the years, they are confidently letting not-that-easy-to-digest edginess to The Row‘s world. Or maybe the most stylish twins in the world are taking a look back at their culture-shifting style from the 2000s? @eljosecriales started that discourse by comparing spring-summer 2025’s grey melange sweater worn over a white ivory slip dress worn over washed blue pants to one of Mary-Kate’s red carpet looks from 2004 that similarly played with layers in a cool, spontaneous, boho manner. That’s the definition of “auto-referential“! Most of the new season offering feels like a very instinctual play with clothes and accessories, never matching or fitting “as it should“, but striking an intriguing balance. Phoebe Philo’s late years at Céline had a similar essence, but the Olsens aren’t copying the British designer as they used to back in the day – they’re doing their own, authentic thing. As they should – they are by now very mature designers, as The Row is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary (the twins started with a t-shirt). And their just-opened shop in Amagansett will certainly sell these plaid shirts, breezy dresses, denim shirts and future-vintage evening dresses like hot buns. Oh, to be awfully rich and buy The Row like daily apparel!
Design & Culture by Ed 