Ashley Olsen's quest for a perfect T-shirt grew into the luxury label The Row
In 2005 Ashley Olsen, once half of television's baby Michelle Tanner, set herself a small challenge: design the perfect T-shirt. She tested it on women of every shape and age. A year later Barneys New York bought the first collection of The Row outright, and a luxury house was born.
Sherman Oaks, California, is where Ashley and her twin Mary-Kate arrived on June 13, 1986, Ashley two minutes ahead. As babies they were hired to share the role of Michelle on the sitcom Full House, which ran from 1987 to 1995. Associates who saw their marketing value built Dualstar Entertainment around them in 1993, turning out a steady stream of TV movies and direct-to-video titles such as Passport to Paris and Winning London.
By the turn of the millennium the twins were a preteen brand. Their faces appeared on clothes, books, fragrances and posters, and Mattel sold dolls of them from 2000 to 2005. At 18 they became co-presidents of Dualstar, whose products reached 5,300 stores worldwide. New York Minute in 2004 was their last film together and Ashley's final starring role; she also enrolled at New York University that year.
Fashion became the main work. The Row's opening 2006 line had seven pieces, among them the T-shirt, cotton sateen leggings and a cashmere tank dress, and it later expanded into shoes, bags and eyewear. In 2007 came Elizabeth and James, named after their younger sister Elizabeth and brother James, and a cheaper line for JCPenney followed. In 2004 they also pledged full maternity leave for the Bangladeshi workers who sewed their clothes.
In March 2012 the sisters said they were leaving acting for good, and they later turned down the Netflix revival Fuller House. Forbes estimated their combined wealth at 100 million dollars in 2007; by 2024 estimates had reached 500 million.
Source: Ashley Olsen
