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Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are evolving their fashion heritage
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, the twins, are fashion influencers no more after their acting success. They became the fans’ favorite character of the year in 1987 on Full House, where they were the co-stars of the role of Michelle Tanner, youngest daughter of Danny Tanner (Bob Saget) in the house. After years of being in the limelight together, making movies, they decided to quit at the peak of their fame and started their luxury brand, The Row. “We decided to live our lives in a different way which meant not being in the spotlight and I think really having something that speaks for itself,” Mary-Kate said to Vogue U.K. in April 2019.
So, what is Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen up to nowadays? Here is everything to know about their lives today.
Who are Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen?
Mary-Kate and Ashley are the two most alike but not identical twins of Sherman where they come from, Los Angeles, California. They debuted in the TV series Full House, as the twin daughters of the house played by the twins themselves, hence the name. It was an acting gig that came their way when they were only six months old.
While the Olsens were making a name for themselves, the trio of siblings in the house grew to four: The younger sister of the twins, Elizabeth Olsen, is now a famous caustic girl in the Marvel Cinematic Universe-powered projects like 2025’s Eternity.
“[They] were the only people who had to endure seeing all my plays and going to my dance recitals,” Elizabeth shared with The Times in November 2025.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s passage from child stars to fashion mogrets
After Full House, the twins continued their career in acting and made more than 30 movies together, among others, It Takes Two, Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, To Grandmother’s House We Go and How the West Was Fun.
In 1993 their manager at the time Robert Thorne created the company Dualstar of which their dad David Olsen was the president. Presently Ashley is the CEO of the company.
After the twins launch the luxury line The Row under the brand Dualstar in 2005, the collection went from strength to strength and within its first four years, it brought in a yearly turnover of $12 million, according to Allure. Currently, the brand consists of five physical stores, as reported by the Business of Fashion.
“I think initially [The Row] was really just a project for us,” Ashley confessed to i.D. in June 2021. “It all began with [a] T-shirt and then the other six pieces: tank tops, cardigans, leggings … came from that. But it was really about perfecting the fit and perfecting the fabric.”
When did Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen stop acting?
The last big movie that Ashley was part of was New York Minute in 2004, but she only made very brief cameos in The Jerk Theory in 2008 and I’m Still Here in 2010. Mary-Kate made her final exit from the screen in 2012.
At 18 the twins moved to New York to study at New York University where they found their real love which was fashion. “We decided to…take a step back and figure out what we really wanted to do,” Ashley told The Ellen Show in September 2010. “And [fashion] was still something I think we were both extremely interested in.”
They had really only acted in the world they knew, which was their childhood, rather than it being something they had chosen. “I don’t think I ever turned around and said, ‘Oh my god, I’m acting,’ it was just what I knew, it was what we did,” Mary-Kate told CBS in September 2007.
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When did Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen leave the film industry?
During a conversation with Allure in November 2013, Ashley revealed that she needed to change her focus entirely from acting. She was very clear in her mind when she said, “I was going through the movies, and at the end of the day, I just told my agents that it is impossible for me to work half-heartedly. Since I don’t think I can dedicate 100% of my time, I can only give you 50% of my work.” Besides, it was mentioned that Mary-Kate had stopped acting and she said, “I am not good at situations where I cannot have control over the final product.”
The twins both refused the offer to appear in the 2016 Fuller House reboot.
Are the stars still involved in fashion?
Yes, the Olsons are still actively managing their high-end label, The Row, with Mary-Kate serving as creative director and Ashley as CEO.
In 2009, they were the youngest designers ever to be inducted into the CFDA and they made their first of five CFDA awards in 2012. Besides that, their fashion kingdom bears the brand Olsenboye that is a JCPenney line, and a T-shirt line by StyleMint.
Mary-Kate tells about the exhausting work that is behind the shows of The Row: “It’s difficult, it’s emotional, it takes a lot of time, but when it is done and it’s great, you get that moment — it’s maybe 30 seconds or a minute long — but that moment you remember.” She considers fashion as an endless search for the ultimate solution. “It’s also our job to find every imperfection there to make sure that we are constantly pushing ourselves and training our eyes and making sure that everyone is served.”
Who are Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen married to?
Ashley Olsen got married to artist Louis Eisner in a small wedding at home on Dec. 28, 2022. Her sisters, Mary-Kate and Elizabeth, were there along with a few other people. One of the people close to the couple sharing the info with PEOPLE said it was a “perfect celebration” and that the couple, which has been dating for five years, “never wanted a huge wedding” at all. A year later, they welcome a son named Otto into the world.
Back in November 2015 Mary-Kate got married to French businessman Olivier Sarkozy and in May 2020 she decided to file for divorce.
Mary-Kate Olsen’s life after divorce and rumors of Sean Avery romance
“She is very career-driven, and he is very French and wanted her to be more free,” a source told PEOPLE about the breakup of Mary-Kate Olsen and Olivier Sarkozy, and also said, “You can’t control a girl who has been on the billionaire track since her 20s.”
Meanwhile, the youngest twin of the Olsen sisters was said to have a love affair with NHL star Sean Avery, following which they were spotted in the Hamptons together in May 2024. However, a source informed PEOPLE that the two are “just friends.” “Mary Kate and Sean have been friends for a long time,” the insider commented. “They both have their summers in the Hamptons, and as far as I know, they abide by the same people.”
Where are Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen now?
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are focusing most of their time and effort on the fashion brand they started, The Row. They presented their new line in Paris in March 2025, and in August 2025, a few photos of the two at their Amagansett, N.Y. store were taken while they were styling visually and setting up clothing racks on the spot beyond fashion. Besides that, Mary-Kate is also a rider and she came second and third at the 2021 Longines Global Champions Tour in Rome.
