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Not all minimalism is born equal. Some collections are more equal than others. The pin-sharp lines of Jil Sander. The way Phoebe Philo reinvented the way we looked at beige with Celine. And this - Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's sophomore presentation for their 3 year old label The Row. It's minimalism, but not as you know it. This isn't the grown-up, working-gal kind you see on the runways of Calvin Klein and MaxMara (soon to be on every fashion editor next month at the shows). This is 90s minimalism with just a hint of grunge, as seen on those too young to wear it the first time round. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are barely into their 24th year and were far too busy with 'So Little Time' and making GREAT tween-tastic movies like 'Winning London' to have been part of the 90s minimalism that captured the hearts of a generation, fuelled in part by Heroin Chic and the Seattle grunge of Nirvana et al. Perhaps that's why the way the Olsens do 90s minimalism is just a little bit chic-er than the way it actually was. The Olsens switch out the doc martens for penny loafers (and not the kind Alexa Chung would wear, but the kind of your grandfather would wear) and the ripped tights are eschewed for bare legs and bravery. The collars are buttoned up to the neck and the sweaters are just a little nipped in at the waist, a little bit more sexy, the pants are just that little bit baggier, as if you found them in a charity shop and bought them anyway, even though they were a bit too big. All without a hint of tartan in sight.
What makes this minimalism - although the Olsen don't like the word minimalism, so lets call it elegant anonymity or some other vogue-esque phrase that doesn't really mean anything at all - different from other types of minimalism? First, let's discuss the slouch. These are clothes that the cool kids wear whilst they sip bourbon and apple juice in dive bars. Slouch is not something you would associate Phoebe Philo or Francisco Costa with because slouch is not something that a 30 something woman needs or wants. But it is something that the teens and 20 year olds want. Witness the pockets - pockets on long-line tunics, pockets on asymmetrical tweed skirts, pockets on dress jackets and suits. Witness the collars that button all the way up to the neck like your favourite acne shirt. Witness those cosy knits that you can simultaneously dress down and up in. Witness the way those calf-grazing skirts are just as cool - if not more - than the very few minis that the Olsens showed. What does all this mean? it means that the lines are long and lean, but not dull and boring. These are lines that skim over the body and allow for movement, these skirts flick out, those sleeves roll out and one imagines you could run a marathon in those baggy pants. As you can see - there is slouch. And it's bloody good slouch, too.
tfs and olsen gallery online - how great is her kelly bag!
What else is different? Well, the second thing to notice is how clean it is. There really are no bells and whistles - not even with the hair and make up. The lengths of the model's hair is blunt, baby, blunt. It's almost scrubbed clean. Fresh. New. It's definitely not something we've seen in fashion for a little while. No sequins? No legs-a-go-go? No shoulder-pagodas? If none of this, then what is going on? Without the theatrics its just clothes, but they're not ordinary clothes. These are clothes that speak for themselves. They speak for working women like Ashley Olsen who runs her own fashion label, they speak for Lauren Hutton, they speak for Carey Mulligan, they speak for me, in the future the Olsen twins want them to speak for everyone from Michelle Obama to Chloe Sevigny. Women from all walks of life, as the cliche goes. The third thing to recognise is that colour palette. You have lots of black, white and grey. So far, so minimal. But it is where the colour spectrum brightens that these two diverge. You'll find no camel, toffee, taupe or beige in the Olsens' collection. It is blue that they are most concerned with. An almost denim-like blue in its rich intensity. In their spring/summer collection it was found in a matte belted python dress. Resort sees a suit in a rich blue tweed, perfect for garden parties. Just a hint of a drop crotch, so Taylor Tomasi will be happy. The pre-requisite for minimalism is a shot of colour, be it Philo's bright tangerine quirk, itself lifted from Raf Simon's at Jil Sander, or a little bit of canary yellow at Marc Jacobs. Fourth, it all looks so perfect with Ashley's Kelly Bag and tousled hair - slightly Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, with a touch more attitude. And Fifth... well, I just love those long skirts.
Since late 2008 (and trust me, you I know, I trawled through pages of the Olsen gallery online to get pictures for this collage) Ashley Olsen has been dressing in a way that has users on tfs yelling 'boring', 'soccer mom' and 'aging'. All they can do now is eat their words. Because, as you can see, Ashley Olsen has been so far ahead of the fashion curve she was off the chart. For almost a year now her style has been written off as 'over'. The days of the Olsen twins supreme reign over fashion with their balenciaga cities, their denim cut offs and their turbans were over. Not so, not so at all. Those kick flared corduroys pants, those baggy pyjama slacks, those knee length grandpa jumpers, those calf-length skirts, those boxy dress jackets and loafers are coming to a store near you. The Olsen twins are back. In fact, they never even left.
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