Working for Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen Is a ‘Bit of a Nightmare’ for One Reason, Says Former Employee

While we don’t see Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen on our screens anymore, they have become wildly successful fashion designers; but some of their former employees have detailed their less-than-thrilling time working for them.

In a huge piece from UsWeekly, former employees of The Row, the Olsen sisters’ luxury clothing brand, claim that working for them is a “bit of a nightmare,” but probably not in the way you may think.

The Olsen twins aren’t mean bosses, from what employees say, the former employees’ main gripe with them is their mannerisms.

“It was a bit of a nightmare,” a former senior employee said to the outlet. “You have to learn to interpret the way they move their hands because sometimes that gives you more of an indication as to what they want the garment to look like.”

They added that “they speak so quietly that they almost whisper,” and while that seems like more of an annoyance than anything; it gets a little darker. A fashion designer told the outlet that everyone who enters their office has to sign an NDA, with an employee backing this up by saying they “don’t trust anyone.” (With their upbringing, the lack of trust makes sense, to be honest.)

But the Olsen twins are allegedly very wary of confrontation, especially Ashley, who the outlet claims to be more focused on operations and finance, rather than Mary-Kate, who focuses more on The Row’s creative aspects. Apparently, that’s why they laid off the majority of The Row’s staff in 2020 over email instead of in person.

For those who don’t know, the Olsen twins founded The Row back in 2006, and garner around $200 and $300 million in sales annually.

A former employee did sing their praises to the outlet though, calling their brand the only celebrity brand that’s “relevant.” They said, “I think at some point, they wanted to prove something. Because they were TV stars when they were kids, no one really took them seriously when they launched the collection. Now it’s really the only celebrity collection that’s relevant.”