Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s fashion line will soon have something in common with designs by J.Lo and Lauren Conrad. The former Full House stars — who left their sitcom career behind to design the luxury fashion label The Row — will now sell their lower-priced, contemporary Elizabeth and James line exclusively at Kohl’s department stores and kohls.com.
The line will appear in Kohl’s stores starting with the 2019 holiday collection, Women’s Wear Daily reports. The brand’s clothing line, handbags, and accessories – which were previously sold at high-end retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus – will now occupy shelf space nationwide at the discount department store chain, which boasts more than 1,150 stores nationwide. The Elizabeth and James fragrance line will continue to be sold at higher-end stores.
The Olsen twins’ pricey line The Row is known for its four-digit prices, but the Elizabeth and James brand, while not cheap, comes in at a more modest price point. But the famous designing women say consumers won’t have to sacrifice quality as the line moves exclusively to Kohl’s. Mary-Kate Olsen told WWD the designing duo’s vision for the line is “to deliver a lifestyle brand that offers women access to premium fashion at an affordable price without sacrificing quality and fit.”
Olsen explained that Kohl’s vast store network and digital platform will allow the line to reach a much larger audience.
Ashley Olsen added that the sisters have always envisioned the lower-priced Elizabeth and James line to reach a wider audience, and said she and her sister look forward to building “additional lifestyle categories” for the brand.
Elle notes that Elizabeth and James has “entered a licensing deal with Kohl’s” in which the Olsen twins will provide input to the design process, but Kohl’s will be responsible for creating all new collections for the brand. There is no word if the pricing structure for the brand will change (past Elizabeth and James designs retailed at around $300, which would be high for Kohl’s), but Doug Howe, Kohl’s chief merchandising officer, said Elizabeth and James will be “sophisticated,” “modern,” and “accessible.”
Many fashion fans think Mary-Kate and Ashley’s Elizabeth and James line is named after their siblings. While the former Full House stars do a have a sister named Elizabeth and a brother named James (who also goes by Trent), the famous twins have long denied the line is an homage to their siblings and confirmed that it is not named after anyone specifically.
“We wanted it to be based on a relationship between a young girl and a boy and tell the story through clothing,” Mary-Kate Olsen told WWD when the sisters launched the contemporary collection back in 2007.
While Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have left Hollywood and are successfully running a fashion empire in New York City, their blatantly absent TV character, Michelle Tanner, has been referenced multiple times on Netflix’s Fuller House spinoff with the explanation that Michelle is also living in New York and running a fashion empire.