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Newsweek magazine profiles Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and their burgeoning fashion empire in this week’s issue.

While the two sisters are often dismissed as “pint sized,”  the business they have built is anything but. Working to keep their celebrity status low key, they’ve dug in to the fashion world and are earning respect.

The 24 year-olds are passionate about New York’s once flourishing garment district that has now virtually gone away. The Olsen’s say they want to really be representative of the American design and manufacturing that once was.

“I really believe in our being able to create here and utilize the skills that people have here,” says Ashley. “The skill set is here. Our main issue is that some of the machinery is gone, so some knitwear is produced in Italy. But whether it’s clothing or cars, I believe in manufacturing as close to home as possible.”

Ashley and Mary-Kate have gotten a huge boost when First Lady Michelle Obama wore a skirt from The Row when she appeared on The View last week. They’ve had to work hard for the recognition and that certainly helps.

Mary Kate Olsen has spent her entire life in front of the cameras and it wasn’t always confortable. The 24 year-old and her sister, Ashley, played precocious Michelle Tanner on Full House in the 80s and the duo now have their own legitimate fashion design company that is very successful with the public and critics alike.

Mary Kate has had her share of negative stories (an eating disorder, a penchant for partying and her friendship with actor Heath Ledger at the time of his overdose) and the very smart business woman has remained silent on these issues for the most part.

Marie Claire magazine has given Mary Kate three covers – and a chance to set the record straight – for September 2010. Here is what you can look forward to from MK in the upcoming issue:

Old photos of her as Michelle – not her favorite: “I look at old photos of me, and I don’t feel connected to them at all… I would never wish my upbringing on anyone…”

What she’s learned from her very public troubles: “I think it’s really important to be able to talk when something’s wrong. I learned at a really young age that if you don’t talk about it, it can drive you insane.”

Fashion is where her heart is: From the inception of The Row to their early successes — “It took us a year-and-a-half to make the first T-shirt,” she says — Mary-Kate takes it more seriously than anything else: “I still read scripts, and if something great comes along, that’s great … but this is my day job. The Row is where I go every day.”

Mary Kate will be seen with Neil Patrick Harris, Vanessa Hudgens and Alex Pettyfer in Beastly when it finally comes out March 18, 2011. Her clothing lines (with sister Ashley,) are The Row, Elizabeth and James and their latest venture Olsenboye - a lower priced teen oriented line at JCPenney.

Go to MarieClaire.com to see more of her photo shoot.

Check out the second and third covers below.

Read more »

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have been quietly building their high-end clothing line The Row, for a few years now. The designs are versatile, fashionable and well-made and have been successful from the initial release in 2007. Growing their line, the sisters announced earlier this month that they would have their first runway fashion show for the Fall 2010 line at New York’s Fashion Week in February and now they are launching the website for their brand. Therow.com is understated and subtle with a tactile ‘feel’ using fabric samples as the background.

What does the look and the feel of the Web site say about the collection?
Mary-Kate Olsen: We looked at a lot of different Web sites before we started working on our own, and we thought most of them were too loud. We wanted The Row Web site to be subdued and very direct. I think that has been a philosophy behind The Row ever since we started the line. All of the background visuals are high-res images of actual fabric swatches from our collections. We wanted the viewer to really see all of the details of the beautiful fabrics we use—washed red silk charmeuse, the scales of our python skins, our cashmere modals. We wanted it to feel like you could reach out and touch everything.

The unique personal style that Mary-Kate and Ashley have cultivated can overshadow the fact that they are talented and passionate about their clothing lines and they have built a great business. I’m looking forward to their fashion show in NYC next month to see what they have planned for The Row.

[image: Joseph Marzullo/WENN.com]