Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have an interesting feature in the current issue of The Edit. They are not the cover subjects, but they did agree to an editorial, as long as they could pose with some real models. The editorial also features the newly revamped Elizabeth & James line, which they started years ago but moved it out of their immediate realm while they focused on building The Row, their more elite clothing line. Now Elizabeth & James has been brought in-house once again, and it basically sounds like The Row mixed with a dash of J.Crew, maybe. Anyway, that’s not the reason why this feature is getting so much attention. People are talking about this because Mary-Kate talks – for the first time? – about being married to Olivier Sarkozy, a man 17 years older than MK and Ashley. They married in 2015 in a quiet, “cigarette” themed wedding. But this is the first time MK really talks about Olivier and how she’s a stepmother to his kids. Some highlights:
MK on posing for The Edit: “We’re used to being on the other side of the camera and managing the process, so it’s hard for us to do photoshoots now. That’s why you have models.”
MK on how they brought the Elizabeth & James label back in-house: “We talk about the mother and the daughter, the comfortable and sexy, masculine and feminine. It’s a balance of both.”
Ashley on her work ethic: “I’ve always been a worker. It has taken me a lot to figure out how to take a vacation.”
MK on her marriage to Olivier: “I think we’re lucky [working hard] comes quite naturally for us. We don’t need so much time to sit and think and ponder. But then I have a husband, two step-kids and a life; I have to go home and cook dinner. I ride horses on the weekends. You find the thing that helps you relax and if you don’t have it, you have to look for it. Or you get burned out and then you’re not productive.”
Ashley on being child actors: “We’ve been in so many fittings. We used to do two a week for 15 years.”
MK on their early fashion choices: “When we were younger, being in the public eye was almost part of our role and responsibility – to set the trends at that time or be ahead of fashion. We would take adult clothing and cut it down to our size, change the proportions. I think from a young age we understood fit in a very different way because we’re so petite.”
Ashley on social media: “We don’t dive into that world [of social media]; we don’t have Instagram or Facebook. So we’ve never been connected to our customers or our fans in that way. We’ve stayed quite sheltered.”
I was about to laugh and roll my eyes at the thought of MK rushing home every evening to cook dinner for Olivier and his kids, but then I got an image of it… MK methodically reading through a recipe while taking long drags of a cigarette. She begins cooking while chain-smoking and sipping some excellent-quality Sauvignon Blanc. Olivier comes home and kisses her hello and asks when dinner will be ready. She dutifully tells him “about 20 minutes” and stubs out her cigarette, her mind already elsewhere. I can see it, can’t you? In my mind, it’s like a modern day version of The Ice Storm. Key parties, cigarettes, muumuus on WASPs, ennui. Beef bourguignon. Perhaps a crockpot is involved.
Also: does anyone else think that Mary-Kate was not-so-subtly telling Ashley that she needs to get a life?
Photos courtesy of The Edit, Fame/Flynet and WENN.
Do these girls ever smile? They always have the blank look on their faces
Honestly I hated Absolutely Nothing about this interview or the Pics even, those coats look Fancy/expensive and spare, they sound adult/busy and not interested in the limelight, and they seem to be pretty non hypocritical about that, they also seem like workhorses.. Elizabeth also comes off equally circumspect.
I do Appreciate they seem uninterested in explaining themselves their dating choices, their personal affairs or coming off likeable.. For all my dementor looks jokes they seem to lock their sh!t tight and I also feel this has to do with how their parents both parented and managed their affairs and then handed them the reins when the time was right and also don’t seem to be famewhores like Lohans/Browns/Houstons/Culkins etc etc etc in this aspect I find them akin to Taylor Swift’s breeding/family vibe/money management?
I agree, I actually like them both.
QQ, jumping in to say I love every comment you make on this site.
Me too. QQ is the best.
AW YOU GUYSES! *hugs* Im luxuriating on my Boss leaving me TF alone most of the week so Commenting frennnzzyy! *in Oprah Crescendo*
I mentioned on another post that I am drawn more to celeb women who are more “adult” — in terms of having their sh*t together, working hard, and being deliberate about their images. I prefer that over the quirky adorkable thing.
MK and Ashley have gained a fan in me, though I am sure they don’t care, which is part of what I like.
YES! Me Too, I don’t mind a non cuddly non sugary celeb that isn’t here splaying All their business open like a Kardassh*le, I rock with an unlikeable Sack wearing bae if she won’t sound stupid in the process
@QQ
I am with you. I prefer women of substance who may be a bit unpleasant over the sweet but brainless. I’ve always said that Swifty would have a major stan in me if she just openly acted like the cunning, strategizing, cold-a$$ b!tch she really was.
I respect their confidence, and their unwillingness to “play the game” anymore. But they have always struck me as the kind of people who have seen and done and are now bored with absolutely everything and are in to really weird stuff now. Not to mention, I will never forget how MK skated by with that Heath Ledger stuff.
I don’t get it with the Heath Ledger thing. He was a grown man. She didn’t do anything to him, she was not accountable for his death in any way. I have never understood the shade towards her. Anyone want to explain?
Well, he was staying in her apartment, and when the massage therapist came in and found him unconscious she called MK first, who instead of calling an ambulance called her private security. And then refused to make a statement to authorities unless she would be granted immunity (I’m assuming they didn’t have sufficient cause to compel her). So, he may have been responsible for his own addiction, but she is sketch.
I don’t know the story but based on your resume I would think that maybe the massage therapist was hysteric on the phone, maybe she send in the security people in first to assess the situation and decide if this was not just another scene for which HL would not need nor welcome exterior and public help. As for the prosecution thing, with him being an addict, I would bet that there was a lot of his illegal stuff in her apartment and she wanted to be sure she would not be persecuted for his drugs in her place.
That’s what I would have done. Of course, I am a cold, thinking and strategizing b!tch.
I don’t know about all that. I do know I lived on the same block as his apartment but my building faced Crosby on one side. He died in his own apartment from what I remember because there was a complete butt load of police and ambulance wheeling things out the day he died. Heath was also hooking up with Helena Christensen at the time and lets just say she has always been friends with the candy man to the stars. The story is more complicated than what was shown from the tabloids and gossip rags. That neighborhood was nothing but party time.
I find it creepy that they always speak for the other. Always with the “we.”
I know several twins and a couple of triplets and none of them do that.
I think that’s a brand thing. They are a “we” because their business interests are so tied together. I spoke like that about business when I had a partner. When MK talks about her personal life she says “I”
They’re not just twins, they’ve been business partners basically all their lives, and these days the business is almost all they talk about. Of course they’re going to say ‘we’ most of the time, when 99% of what they talk about are joint projects.
They have aged so much, physically. I don’t care, I still love them. I used to be obsessed with everything they did. I bet MK does domestic things, just because it’s probably a new experience for them.
Sucking on the cancer sticks would definitely age a person. I wish they would quit.
Yeah. Sure she is the one fixing dinner. The dinner that she obviously doesn’t eat. *eyeroll*
I miss the Olsen twins of the 2001-2002 era when they were so fashiony and fun to watch. Instead they just make me sad and hungry when I look at them.
Me too!!! They used to be so awesome
Meh. They aren’t hurting anybody.
except their interns
What did they do to the interns? I don’t usually follow their gossip. I hope it wasn’t anything bad like virgin sacrifices or sorority hazing. But seriously though being an intern usually sucks. Not fun at all for most kids.
They always look bored,tired,greasy,and older than they are. I can’t picture them doing any kind of housework
I was wrong age wrong time so I’ve never watched Full House but I kind of like that they stick to the droll New Yorker theme and don’t react to any negative gossip.The clothing and accessories are expensive but many are lovely.My problem is the real fur used in the Row. Not OK. Also I think Ashley has been ill with Luke’s disease and has had some serious health struggles.
Sorry I meant Luke’s disease.
I can totally see MK cooking dinner as described, so funny!
I can’t believe they’re only 30! Don’t do drugs or smoke, yikes!
If they have such an incredible understanding of fit, why are they always dressed in sacks?
i like that they re not into showing skin to please anyone but themselves.
i just hope for mk the sarko husband is better with his second very young wife than his brother with us frenchs.
Not showing skin is fine, but what they do choose to wear always has way too much cloth for their petite frames. The clothes wear them, they don’t wear the clothes.
So true!
I’ve always found it interesting that when they became legal adults they did just 1 movie and then completely walked away from the Olsen Twins persona and brand. While their parents seem to have never taken advantage of them the way so many showbiz parents do, it makes you wonder about their childhood. That, and the way those two women were world-weary, old souls at 22. For all their money, I would never trade places with them.
they have had some of the best parenting of the children stars bunch with the williams sisters,taylor swift…
Business wise, yes. But these two were never children.
I bet MK is just reheating pre-cooked or leftover meals into the microwave. Jk. Whatever makes her happy.
My first thought was “He doesn’t know how to cook for himself?!? Teach him how to make a peanut butter sandwich!” But she probably just enjoys preparing meals as a way to unwind and relax, since it’s very different from her job, and “having to go home to cook dinner” is a way for a workaholic to remind herself she has to stop working, it’s a natural cutoff time. Especially since she can hire somebody to shop and clean up… He also could be doing cleanup for all we know.
Good for Mary Kate if she wants to make dinner for her hubby!
What does Olivier do for a living?
I like them but there has always been something off with them. I wonder if they were treated well as child actors. I agree though with everything QQ said above. Always ove ur comments QQ!
I took her cooking dinner quote to mean that she has responsibilities other than her fashion business, such as family. If she literally has to go home to cook dinner then what is the use of having all of that money? I sure as hell wouldn’t be cooking if I could afford to hire someone. I wouldn’t step foot in the kitchen. I probably wouldn’t even know where the kitchen is. (I’m joking. Sort of.)
I’m with you. I would have a chef that cranked out healthy meals all day every day. Cooking is not enjoyable to me, and then you have to clean up on top of that.
My Dad was born in France and I have to say there is a different dynamic in a marriage to an older European, they tend to be much more traditional in their expectations of home life, and often expect the wife to take on all the domestic duties. As long as each person in the marriage is happy with that, I don’t think it’s for anyone to criticize. I personally cannot stand my father’s patriarchal BS, and getting free of his degrading sexist yoke has been the driving force of my life. Guess who’s not making dinner?
Girly needs to step away from the cancer sticks if she wants a long life. I don’t find this amusing at all.