Paris Fashion Week: The Row Hides Itself From the Greedy Paws of the Media

In several unusual Fashion Week moves, the Olsen twins moved the spring 2016 presentation for their consistently impressive and stunningly pricey line The Row from New York to Paris, where the press and retailers were invited to a showroom preview on Tuesday featuring less than half of the collection.

“We wanted to do something special for our clients this season,” Ashley Olsen told Women’s Wear Daily during the showroom preview. “They’re all mainly in Paris, and it’s the right time.”

The full presentation took place on Wednesday evening at the 17th-century Château de Courances, located an hour outside Paris. This would be an incredibly inconvenient obstacle in a reporter’s grinding Fashion Week schedule, if any were invited; however, according to WWD, this was for clients only—no media (or photographers) allowed. “The Olsens insist on distributing their own in-house images, shot the morning after the press presentation, delaying illustrated coverage, Instagram not withstanding, of the clothes by more than 24 hours,” WWD reported.

Images of the full collection are now available via Vogue and WWD, but as WWD notes, “a reporter would have to imagine the atmosphere” of the dinner itself. As to whether any celebrities were in attendance, we may never know.

The fashion house only began publishing Instagram photos of the collection late Thursday morning, another rare decision. But if their recent CFDA Award is any indication, the Olsens know exactly what they’re doing. (Except, possibly, when it comes to interns.)