Everything We Know About The Row’s Expansion Plan

The news that cut through the British bank holiday-revelry came courtesy of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. The twin sisters behind The Row are expanding their much-coveted womenswear offering to include menswear.

Deep breath, here’s what we know so far... The Olsens’ self-described "premiere menswear collection" will arrive in The Row stores and select retailers in October, but it’s been in the works for years. In fact, if you visited The Row’s Upper East Side and Los Angeles flagships over the past two years you might have come across an assortment of men’s pieces on trial.

“We did one menswear capsule collection many years ago, and in 2016 launched a retail menswear capsule,” Ashley Olsen said in a statement regarding the brand’s organic expansion plan. “It was imperative that we received our customers’ feedback and to approach this collection thoughtfully at our pace.”

“The Row’s womenswear began without doing any press during its conception, sold with select wholesale partners. It’s important for us to do the research,” Mary-Kate Olsen added. “We want to be able to offer the menswear market those same core foundation pieces at a luxury level.”

The premiere collection will focus on classic suiting and root back to the genesis of The Row. The 2016-born brand was named in reverence to Savile Row, and their mutual founding principles: dedication to craftsmanship, exceptional fabrics and fine tailoring. The new subdivision will “combine the refinement of a classic bespoke experience with the precise minimal masculine style of New York specific to the ’80s and the ’90s” and follow the same minimal, luxurious construction as the womenswear.

The suiting will be made to order in Japan with traditional European hand-stitched techniques. The shirting is to be produced in France, the knitwear in Italy, the denim and the T-shirts in the USA.

With fashion editors waiting nervously to see how the luxury landscape will change with Hedi Slimane’s first collection at Céline – The Row’s contemporary in the market and the other linchpin in fashion editors’ wardrobes – the Olsens’ expansion couldn’t be more welcome. The prospect of borrowing from the boys never looked better.