Ashley Olsen made a rare red carpet appearance at the 2021 CFDA Fashion Awards in New York on Wednesday, Nov. 10. The fashion designer, 35, looked elegant in a timeless black trench coat from her fashion label The Row. The former sitcom star and her sister Mary-Kate were nominated for American Accessories Designer of the Year for their label.
Mary-Kate did not attend the ceremony held at the The Pool in Manhattan on Wednesday evening, but that did not deter Ashley from painting the town red (or, black) and celebrating at the ceremony, which honors excellence in fashion. Top fashion designers and A-list celebrities dressed to impress for the award hosted by designer Tom Ford and actress Emily Blunt.
This year’s honorees include Zendaya, set to receive the Fashion Icon Award; Anya Taylor-Joy, set to receive the Face of the Year Award; and Dapper Dan, set to receive the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. Drew Barrymore, Iman, Ciara, Emily Ratajkowski, and Cara Delevingne were among the star-studded attendees.
This isn’t the first time The Row, established in 2006, has been recognized for its contributions to fashion. Ashley and Mary-Kate have received the CFDA Award for Accessory Designer of the Year three times at past award shows: first in 2014, then in 2018, and again in 2019. The sisters also nabbed the award for American Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2015.
Ashley’s outing at one of fashion’s buzziest nights comes after she and Mary-Kate gave a rare interview in June about their decision to remain private people. The notoriously private twins spoke to Vice’s i-D Magazine to celebrate the 15th anniversary of The Row, speaking candidly about their general avoidance of Hollywood.
“We were raised to be discreet people,” Mary-Kate told the publication. That ethos has translated over to The Row, a line known for minimalist and modest offerings revered for its exceptional fabric and detailing. “I think that potentially that’s just our aesthetic, our design preference,” Ashley added. “But that doesn’t mean that we don’t also appreciate something truly ornate or maximal.”
The fashion line could be an interpreted as an extension of the twins’ desire to remain out of the limelight. “We really didn’t want to be in front of it,” Ashley said. “We didn’t necessarily even want to let people know it was us, in a way. I mean, it was one of those things where it was really about the product, to the point where we’re like, ‘Who could we get to kind of front this so we don’t have to?’ I think, to this day, you’ll see we really put the product first.”