Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen Cover UK Telegraph

Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen sit down for an interview with UK Telegraph and open up about fashion, The Row and not using their names to sell it, but also about their parents, their little sister Elizabeth, and their future plans. Take a look at some highlights from the twins' cover story.

Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen cover UK Telegraph. Inside the magazine, the beautiful sisters talk about their love for fashion, The Row, how they see themselves in ten years' time, but also about their family and being a unit.

The Olsen twins started their career at nine months old in the TV sitcom called Full House. When they were 12, the twins launched their first mass-market fashion label, which was a partnership with the retail giant Wal-Mart. Since then, they recorded 10 pop albums, and published millions of books based on their film characters' adventures. Moreover, at 18 the Olsens took control over Dualstar, the company set up to protect the sisters' interests. Still, they told UK Telegraph that everything came naturally and that their parents didn't put pressure on them.

"They never forced anything on us. And it's not like we were going on auditions or anything. Everything was just a natural progression - I mean, not natural, but… natural to us," Ashley says. "There was no hunger, never a goal to get into anything. It was just part of our life, we never knew anything else. Work, school, then after-school activities - the basketball team, soccer, volleyball," Mary-Kate adds.

Speaking about The Row, the luxury clothing label based in New York, Ashley told UK Telegraph that, "I did feel there was a need for luxurious basics, to wear with couture. When you're small like I am, you need things to break it up, or not look like you're in the full look. So it started with that concept, and just kind of grew from there. It's pieces that we feel are missing, or that we want. We make the best quality, things that we would shop for, that we appreciate and find beautiful."
"It's not fast fashion. We pay so much attention to the fit and the quality and the details," Mary-Kate says.

The twins confess they didn't want people to know that they were behind The Row, so they didn't use their name to sell it. "We didn't want people to know that we were behind it. We'd learnt so much about building brands and talking to a specific customer. We did it with our faces at the beginning, and we knew we didn't want to do that any more. It's far more fun this way," Ashley admits.

They always loved fashion and say that they often had adult clothes from famous labels like Chanel cut down to fit. "We loved it! We'd go through racks and racks of clothes, and hours of fittings. When you cut something down that small, it has to be precise. So we've always been really interested in fit. And over the years we've become more educated in fabrics and make, and appreciating those small details. That's where we start from now, always - what feels right," Ashley tells the magazine.

Besides The Row, Mary-Kate and Ashley also launched the West Coast-styled label Elizabeth and James, which was named after their younger sister and older brother. On their 21-year-old sister Elizabeth, who is taking the stage right now as a talented actress, Mary-Kate says that "'We're so proud of her! She's working really hard."

The Olsen twins chose New York over LA and even though they live in separate apartments Mary-Kate told UK Telegraph they are a unit. "We still probably spend more time together than we're apart. The only time we really don't see each other is when we're sleeping, I guess", she confesses. Ashley adds that, "We both have the same goals."

As for how they see themselves ten years from now, Mary-Kate says that, "My answers are always sarcastic to this. I always say taller." In fact, the two are about to launch handbags and shoes for The Row, and handbags for Elizabeth & James. Besides, they might also open their own stores. "When the time is right, we definitely want some sort of home where we display it the way we want to," Mary-Kate says.

Photos courtesy of UK Telegraph