This piece was originally written for MissOmniMedia.com but alas it was unused due to uncontrolled circumstances...It happens...After putting so much work into it I decided I had to post it somewhere and here it is.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have been slowly taking over the world one step at a time since they shared screen time as Michelle Tanner. After tackling TV, DVDs, Wal-Mart and the runways, the girls are moving into eyewear for Spring 2010.
For the collection the Olsens are teaming up with Linda Farrow Eyewear, the mastermind behind Dries Van Noten ‘s and Jeremy Scott’s innovative eyewear, to produce four distinct styles for their luxury line, The Row, in a licensed partnership. The four styles include a pair of aviators, an oversized square frame, vintage inspired brow-lined rims, and awesome John Lennon-esque round shades. The glasses will retail from $325-$390 and will be sold in high end department stores such as Barneys New York and Bergdorf Goodman.
According to WWD, Ashley Olsen stated that “We’re testing the market first and obviously these are four very different silhouettes, so we’re seeing what people are responding to and we’ll open up a couple more silhouettes for fall,” and “We tried to find certain pieces that look good on more than one face, to pay close attention to how they fit certain faces and make them wearable at the same time.”
The girls have already made a name for themselves in the accessories market through the expansion of their contemporary line, Elizabeth and James, into footwear and jewelry. However designing eyewear has proven to be an entirely different ball game for the girls. Mary-Kate told WWD, “Designing eyewear was definitely more complicated than we thought, and of course we wanted to be extremely hands-on.” The girls’ hands-on approach has definitely paid off, as evidenced by Mary Kate rocking a pair of the unreleased sunnies to the Burberry show during London Fashion Week.
