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Mary-Kate And Ashley Olsen Share Why They Are 'Discreet' People In Rare Interview

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen

The two notoriously private 2000s tweens sensations Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, shared why they are both "discreet people" in a rare interview with i-D for their clothing brand The Row's 15th anniversary.


The retired twin actresses lived their entire childhood in the spotlight starting at the age of nine-months-old, where they both played the role of Michelle Tanner on Full House. During their teens they created a multi-million dollar brand for themselves venturing out into movies, books, TV shows, makeup etc., and began their first clothing brand that was exclusively for Walmart.

The twins haven't been seen together on screen since they starred alongside each other in their movie New York Minute in 2004, which shockingly enough is where the sister's attended NYU for a more secluded life. They avoid speaking publicly and being photographed at all costs, to which Mary-Kate admitted during the interview that she was a a little rusty saying, "We're a bit out of practice."

It was during their time at NYU that they created their high fashion label The Row in 2006. Ashley ensured that during the beginning processes of their label she didn't want to attach their famous names or faces to it.

"We didn't want to be in front of it, we didn't necessarily even want to let people know it was us," Ashley said. "It was really about the product, to the point where we were like: Who could we get to front this so that we don't have to?" They stayed true to their word, having Gigi Hadid modeling their clothing for the I-D article.

Mary-Kate describes the twins as, "discreet people – that's how we were raised." Although the two sisters can ensure the public they will not be returning to the big screen anytime soon, their younger sister Elizabeth Olsen has made a name for her self as an actress, currently staring in Marvel's WandaVision. In an interview with Glamour UK in April, Elizabeth admitted when she was a child she wanted to go by her last name to avoid any nepotism that could come with being attached to her older sisters.

"During that time, I thought, 'I don't want to be associated with [Mary-Kate and Ashley] for some reason," she said. "I guess I understood what nepotism was like inherently as a 10-year-old. I don't know if I knew the word, but there is some sort of association of not earning something that I think bothered me at a very young age."

Mary-Kate and Ashley although out of the limelight, still channel the same drive and focus they had as tweens into their clothing line. "I think we're very much perfectionists. We're hard workers and we've always been hard workers," said Mary-Kate. "I think the reason we do fashion is to constantly try to fix our imperfections. And you have next season to do that. But it's also our job to find every imperfection in there to make sure that we're constantly pushing ourselves and training our eyes and making sure everyone is served. Just evolving and learning."

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Samantha Popovics