[Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen continue to pick up speed on their line, The Row. Next Spring, they're launching four distinct eyewear silhouettes in collaboration with Linda Farrow, they told WWD.
The style include aviators, vintage-inspired shades with brow-line rims, oversized square-framed sunnies, and one sixties-style round pair — similar to the shape Mary-Kate often favors. "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,” Ashley said. “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.”
“Designing eyewear was definitely more complicated than we thought, and of course we wanted to be extremely hands-on,” said Mary-Kate. “From what I understand, the first year with eyewear is figuring out what the process will be like for us specifically. I think everyone does it differently, whether it’s looking through old materials or archives or working with drawings and measurements.”London-based Linda Farrow produces eyewear for edgier, niche fashion lines, such as Bernard Wilhelm, Dries Van Noten and Jeremy Scott. Managing director Simon Jablon said the firm prefers to partner with labels that have “different personalities,” adding The Row was a compelling opportunity.
“[The Row is] selling in the best stores and is worn by people who are decision makers, so for our eyewear to be associated with them is fantastic,” Jablon said. “Mary-Kate and Ashley know what they want, so it doesn’t feel like a standard licensing deal in that they really are hands-on. They’re also fashion forward and innovative, which makes it exciting for us.”]
Source:
WWD
The Cut
