Mary-Kate, Ashley Olsen Dish on Rise to Fashion Fame

By Kelly Fisher Posted Mar 23rd 2011 08:00AM

Running three fashion lines may seem like a daunting task, but Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have managed to create a sought-after fashion empire at just 24 years old. The twins give a glimpse into their busy lives in the April issue of Vogue.

"We hired a showroom and talked buyers through," Ashley says, recounting when their fashion endeavor was just starting out and they had to convince buyers that their designs were legit.

"People would drill us about fabric, where we'd make it," Mary-Kate adds. "The first season, customers bought it, so the stores came back. And drilled us again."

Mary-Kate and Ashley's lines, The Row, Elizabeth & James and Olsenboye, have quietly garnered acclaim from some of the top buyers in the industry. Now the designers are up for their first CDFA Award (one of the fashion industry's top honors), which pretty much solidifies them in the fashion realm.

The designers have been in the limelight since they were babies, starring in 'Full House' and countless kid-centric movies and videos, and their company, Dualstar, has brought in more than $1 billion worldwide. When they switched to fashion, however, they didn't have any formal fashion training, which they say makes many buyers wonder how they pull off such professional designs.

"Fair question," Ashley says, "but Dualstar started when we were 6. And we had a collection with Wal-Mart at 12, which was the upper tier of the tween market. It was before celebrity designers."

"And we were really designing it," Mary-Kate adds. "It would be jeans, a bit bohemian, or with a little blazer. It was really fashion-forward."

But do the twins ever miss their first profession: acting? Not so much, according to Ashley, who's happy to leave her TV and movie days behind to focus on their business.

"I am so proud of what we did. We made kids smile every day," she says of her childhood rise to fame. "But we had done the most we could do."

Mary-Kate hasn't exactly quit the acting game just yet. She starred in the movie 'Beastly,' alongside Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens, which came out this month.

These days, however, the girls are more interested in dressing movie stars rather than starring in films themselves. They recently helped friend Carey Mulligan get ready for a high-profile-audition.

"I couldn't believe what they did when I texted in a panic about having nothing to wear for my audition for 'Gatsby,'" says Mulligan. "I was hoping they'd send me some things from The Row, but then these huge boxes arrived -- Ashley's entire collection of thirties vintage dresses." And yes, she did end up getting the part.

Though it seems like the Olsens have enough on their plate already, there's no slowing down in their future.

"I want to run a studio," says Ashley. "I'd probably like to manage other people on their brands. It could be an artist. A young designer. It could be an existing brand."

"The thing about us," Mary-Kate adds, "is we think big. Huge."