Amidst the soaring minimalism of Mies Van der Rohe’s iconic Seagram building, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen showed an appropriately restrained collection for autumn. The Olsens drew from the building itself, as well as its iconic view of the city, for this group of easy, sumptuous classics. With the morning sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows, this show was a love letter to New York, and its legion of working women.
The show presented a rich selection of separates in a neutral color palette, mainly revolving around variations on black and cream. Soft belts in leather, mink, wool and satin bound the waist in some looks like Japanese obis. Already-iconic Row pieces like slacks, long and loose coats, and cocoon-like knits were well-represented.
In the way that Donna Karan defined New York women’s essentials in the 90s, and Helmut Lang did in the early 2000s, The Row is dictating what a “good” wardrobe should include right now.
There was a sense that these pieces could go from the boardroom to the bedroom, though in a cozier way than that might imply. Those chic suede and leather mules? Actual slippers, flown in from Parisian menswear emporium Charvet (aging bankers everywhere are suddenly on trend).
After the show, producer Alex de Betak admitted how how difficult it was to execute something that appeared so simple. The rigor that goes into this kind of perfection is not lost on the elegant women on the benches today, many of them customers and fans of the brand.
Catch up with the rest of our autumn/winter 15 coverage here.
