THE TAO OF MARY KATE

On the set or off, in business, in fashion, and in life, Mary-Kate Olsen seems to float effortlessly above the craziness.

By Kevin Sessums
Photographed by Carter Smith
Styled by Joe Zee

Mary-Kate Olsen is reading the fine print. We are at a trapeze school in midtown Manhattan, and she has in her diminutive lap the release form that the school has given her in order to indemnify itself against any personal injuries that its students might incur during class. I had scribbled my initials in all the myriad boxes required without reading one syllable on the page. But not the meticulous Mary-Kate. She refuses to be hurried, though she is horribly jet-lagged from a quick business trip to Asia to publicize her two clothing lines, the Row-which consists of high-end sophisticated separates in a minimal palette, such as cashmere French-seam T-shirts, well-cut blazers, leather pants, and banded miniskirts à la Hervé Léger-and Elizabeth and James, which includes contemporary androgynous designs inspired by some of the vintage pieces that Mary-Kate and her sister Ashley own. Indeed, she and Ashley closely oversee the operations of both brands, with Mary-Kate focusing on Elizabeth and James and Ashley focusing on the Row. Both sisters conceive and sketch out designs for both lines (collaborating with designer Jane Siskin on Elizabeth and James). The lines are the Olsens' latest wildly successful business endeavors, in addition to Dualstar Entertainment Group, their billion-dollar conglomerate.