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Ashley Olsen Speaks! And She’s a Savvy Fashion Designer

Ashley Olsen: Full-time Rower.Photo: Getty Images

Ashley Olsen promoted the fall ‘08 collection of her and Mary-Kate’s clothing line the Row by appearing at a boutique in Dallas yesterday. Journalists were asked not to interview her, but being infinitely generous, she chatted them up anyway. Apparently she’s “on hiatus from her liberal-arts studies at New York University” to focus on the fashion stuff. Oh, Ash, let’s be real — who needs school when you have fashion? And a fortune?

The Row’s fall ‘08 collection includes 110 looks — an impressive boost from the spring ‘07 collection’s 18 — including fur outerwear. The sisters collaborated on the designs, but Ashley works on the line full-time every day while Mary-Kate focuses on acting. “I don’t want to expand too far too fast,” Ashley told WWD of the Row. “I just take it one day at a time. There is endless opportunity, and I want to make the right choices. I don’t see why it can’t grow further and further.” The Row’s commercial director, Rae Miles, chimed in, “We really had a good time. Ashley was surprised. The women were really chic. A lot of them had such great style. And we didn’t expect there to be so many women like that.”

These women are Olsen’s target customers, right? How flattering, then. And the door hit Miles and Ashley’s asses on the way out.

Ashley Olsen Touts Virtues of The Row [WWD]

Ashley Olsen Speaks! And She’s a Savvy Fashion Designer