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Entrepreneurship is really cute.

Ginia Bellfante writes about the Olsen twins, who may seem like tiny, empty celebrities who don't work, but actually have an impressive fashion business and sound pretty smart (especially Ashley):

Mary-Kate?s contribution to the enterprise is a collector?s knowledge. She has been buying vintage Lanvin and Givenchy, among other classic labels of the mid-20th century, for a number of years... Ashley is the more entrepreneurial, the one who will tell you how much she admires Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

?I?m focused on building a true American brand,? she said, explaining why it was important to her that the line be manufactured in New York. ?For me it was the control. I needed to make sure I could see the product being made. Things like this are successful when you really care, when you are paying attention to every single detail.?

The Olsens are known for keeping a tight grip on their image, but their general reluctance to talk to the press has left them ceding ground to tabloids eager to construct the narrative.... The magazines... became fixated on how the twins dressed, running picture after picture of the two in big, round glasses and loose, layered knits, implying something deranged and effortful in a look that suggested Janis Joplin.

?I was from L.A., and layering made sense to me,? Mary-Kate explained. ?I was cold. I put on whatever was on the floor when I woke up.? The look seemed constructed to make her disappear, but it rendered an entirely different effect....

The Olsens seem to regard themselves above all as artist-moguls, and the challenges they describe are the challenges of businesspeople. They have to figure out how to deal with expanding the Row while still letting it feel like a quiet discovery for whoever is buying it. As Ashley sees it, her career is brand building, in fashion and beyond. ?It is what I love. There are so many voids in the market, and I want to find those opportunities and make the most of them.?

Nice. I love them now. Here's their website. And here's their new book, "Influence," which has them talking not about themselves, but interviewing artists and designers they like.

Full post as published by Althouse on October 26, 2008 (boomark / email).