The Olsen Twin Effect
Written By: Hannah Corbett
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are back, though they never really left. For nearly two decades, they have quietly redefined luxury fashion with The Row, shaping an aesthetic that is simultaneously minimal, exacting, and effortlessly aspirational. Their influence has evolved, but it has never waned.
Before The Row, they were omnipresent. From Full House to Passport to Paris, Holiday in the Sun, and New York Minute, their films defined a generation. Matching outfits, globe-trotting adventures, an unspoken confidence—it all felt inevitable, as if they were born to be watched.
Their NYU years marked a new chapter: the boho-chic era. Layered scarves, oversized sunglasses, and the casual authority of those who inhabit a city they are still learning to navigate. Asked about their street style at the time, Mary-Kate said, “People were really fascinated by it, but I just think it was laziness on our part! We came to New York from California, and we didn’t know what to wear in the snow. So it’s like, whatever I could find, I just put on.”
What seemed accidental became instructive. That effortless approach prefigured the modern minimalism they would later codify—refinement through ease, elegance through subtlety.
At eighteen, they founded The Row. Nearly twenty years later, it is a beacon of understated luxury. Its name pays homage to Savile Row in London, a street synonymous with bespoke tailoring. The brand began with a simple obsession: the perfect white T-shirt, crafted in the finest fabrics with impeccable precision. From there, it expanded into coats, dresses, handbags, and now flagship stores in New York, Los Angeles, and London. Inspirations such as Coco Chanel and Yohji Yamamoto are visible in the brand’s DNA: structured, timeless, yet personal.
Ashley described those early days: “We actually started in L.A. I used to fly to school, I did classes Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday so I could leave Thursday night or Friday and be in the factory with people Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We traveled back and forth until we started doing jackets, and then we stayed in New York.”
Rare appearances now feel almost mythic. Their recent outing at the CFDA Awards, where they won Accessory Designer of the Year for The Row, was a reminder of their quiet authority. In an era obsessed with spectacle, they remain advocates for texture, proportion, and restraint.
And it all has me curious. The “clean girl aesthetic” has been all the rage. Slick backs on top of slick backs, with a middle part. Makeup, every glowing and simple. Yet lately, I have been noticing a sort of ‘messy-ness’. Thrown together outfits with natural hair paired with a side part. Side parts havent been what they used to be since maybe 2013.
All of this to say, this is the Olsen Twin effect: oversized bags, scarves that envelop the body, layers meticulously arranged, the artful messy hair tuck. Style that whispers rather than shouts, yet commands attention. A lesson in timelessness, in elegance, in presence.
Forget Christian Girl Autumn. This season, we’re feeding off “The Olsen Effect”