Thursday morning, The Row will stage its Spring/Summer 2026 show at Paris Fashion Week. You won’t see it, of course, because phones are banned. But there will be signs: an editor posting an aesthetic pear they were served in the showspace, or droves of brand devotees outside the venue wearing impeccably cut clothes.
“The Row represents a certain lifestyle and point of view, and because it’s not overexposed, it keeps its sense of exclusivity,” says Gab Waller, founder of fashion sourcing startup Sourced By, which finds coveted, high-end luxury products for affluent consumers. The Row’s prices are comparable to some of the top ultra-luxury heritage brands, ranging from £330 for a cotton tank top and £800 for leather ballet flats, to $4,540 for a leather bag and £10,070 for a shearling coat. Waller’s clients see The Row as an investment, drawn to the quality of materials along with the allure of the brand. “All of that together makes the price feel justified.”
Originally launched in 2006 in New York, The Row has engendered the level of devotion and exclusivity usually reserved for European luxury titans like Hermès, or long-running design stalwarts like Comme des Garçons. When we did a call out on Instagram to find loyal clients, there were two kinds of responses: those who buy a lot of The Row, and those who wish they did. And while the brand has slowly scaled over its 19-year history, it’s been on a tear in the past few years, especially with the quiet luxury boom. The brand’s Margaux bag, launched in 2018, has become a much-sought-after It-bag in the last two years, drawing comparisons to the Birkin. The Row’s divisive $690 flip flop became a viral luxury item of the summer, prompting much discussion online about status staples.
Seizing on that momentum, last September, The Row secured financing from investment fund Mousse Partners, which is owned by the Wertheimer family, who control Chanel. L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers also invested via the family’s Téthys fund, valuing the label at $1 billion. Other investors included Natalie Massenet and Nick Brown’s Imaginary Ventures fund, and Moda Operandi founder Lauren Santo Domingo’s private fund St Dominique Capital.
The valuation puts The Row in rare company: few independent fashion brands have reached unicorn status, especially in luxury. Unlike digitally native brands that scaled on the backs of VC funding but have struggled to reach profitability, The Row has reached this milestone thanks to its high margins, limited distribution and steady organic growth.
“It didn’t surprise me that [Chanel owner Alain] Wertheimer invested in the brand because, in many ways, it has somewhat of the Chanel DNA,” luxury consultant Robert Burke says. “I don’t say that lightly, because there are very few brands that do. It is about controlling the distribution and creating great products that are exceptionally good in quality.”
The brand’s famous founders Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen themselves embody The Row’s aesthetic, yet the duo purposefully distance themselves from the limelight, eschewing the classic celebrity brand playbook. They don’t bow at the end of their shows (as is custom for designers), and they rarely do interviews: the last was in September 2024, for Vogue, when they opened a store in Paris.
The Row asked guests to refrain from taking photos or videos during its Paris Fashion Week show. The internet lit up in response.
The Row’s minimal aesthetic means it’s equally sought after by both high-earning corporate professionals and fashion editors, alike. British Vogue contributing editor Olivia Singer owns too many The Row pieces to count, and frequently discusses her purchases in a group with several other women who work in fashion, all The Row fans. “We share our favourite pieces and reassure each other that the cost per wear will prove worth it,” Singer says. “I would say that The Row is the brand that we collectively buy the most.”
The Row’s success lies in its ability to drive hype without being hype-driven. “Now, The Row resonates with a much broader audience than maybe people that can afford it,” Burke says. “But they know of it and covet it, which is what every brand wants.”
Design first
While exclusivity has become one of The Row’s key traits, for brand devotees, it’s the design that is the draw. Each fan we spoke with has scores of pieces.
“The Row customer is someone who values discretion, quality and longevity over logos. She’s usually a busy professional, a creative or an entrepreneur who travels a lot and wants pieces that work everywhere without shouting for attention,” says Waller. “Clients have shared that they love how effortless the clothes feel and how easily they slot into what they already own. They see The Row as a foundation brand they’ll come back to season after season.”
George Fountas, Bergdorf Goodman VP and general merchandise manager of designer and ready-to-wear, says clients select the brand “not just because of the aesthetic, but also because of the feel of the fabrics, the cut and the drape”. Knitwear is always a go-to for clients, and this season they’ve also been drawn to striped shirting and suede and leather outerwear. Fountas adds: “Our clients know when they select The Row, it will be an item that works in their wardrobes forever. While the brand might inspire some trends, it’s really timeless.”
Martina Harts founded fashion sourcing company Fomo Call in 2023, to help affluent individuals find coveted fashion that’s often sold out. The Row has become one of the top-selling brands on the platform. “We’ve seen sales for The Row grow by about 125 per cent in the past 18 months, and we’re sourcing it globally to keep up with the demand,” she says. “Clients see it as an investment — it lasts forever and has become the uniform for women and men who want to look intelligent, effortless and completely unbranded.”
Like other labels successfully weathering the luxury slowdown — from Hermès to Miu Miu — The Row appeals to an intergenerational consumer that spans young fans in their 20s to affluent customers in their 70s.
Its diverse customer base offers a fundamental business advantage: while younger shoppers build brand desirability, high-spending clients in their 40s and older provide stable revenue. “Our core clients are still women in their 30s to 50s, who live between global cities and wear The Row as their daily uniform — but we’re now seeing Gen Z with serious spending power buying it as the ultimate status flex, proving they’re in the know by choosing no-logo, hard-to-get pieces as a quiet rebellion against hype culture,” says Harts.
Controlled distribution and expansion
The Row’s distribution strategy has been central to its success. It has a limited number of wholesale accounts, just five standalone stores globally, and has been disciplined about maintaining scarcity and avoiding overexposure. Nevertheless, there’s still white space: “I think a few more stores would be great, but they need to keep the availability limited,” says Burke. “My guess is that they would limit the wholesale distribution and open more stores that they have full control of, because [the brand] is poised for expansion in a thoughtful way.”
The success of The Row’s Margaux bag in the last two years was another turning point. The Olsens have propelled the success of several It-bags, from Hermès Birkins to the Balenciaga City. But the Margaux became the label’s first recognisable piece. Currently retailing for between $3,659 and $5,300, it was launched in 2018. Though, fans have noticed the brand hasn’t restocked the bag as frequently in the past year — a strategy that’s led to the Margaux being dubbed the “new Birkin” thanks to its limited availability.
Several other viral items have followed, including the divisive $690 flip flops, which topped the Lyst Index of the hottest items in Q2 2025. The Row entered the ranking for the first time in 2024. It’s now at sixth place on the list, and is the only privately owned company in the top 10.
What does expansion look like for The Row? For many independent labels, it usually comes in the form of collaborations, new categories and international growth. The Row has created strong interest abroad, including among Middle Eastern and Latin American clients. Both regions are growing as luxury markets, standing out amid a slowdown in the US and China. While many of these customers purchase luxury while travelling, there could be opportunities for The Row to deepen its presence locally through select retail openings or localised clientelling strategies. “They still have an international market to conquer, which is big and I think would respond very well,” says Burke.
Burke says he doesn’t see The Row expanding into beauty — a ‘small luxury’ that brands often rely on to boost margins and attract entry-level customers — but he’s curious about whether they would consider homeware or interiors. “They have such a great sense of interiors and design that I wonder if they would do some unique pieces of furniture or collectibles, something that’s out of the box,” he says.
The question is whether the brand can outlast the Olsen twins’s quiet presence. While brands that are priced similarly to The Row typically have archives and brand codes to fall back on, The Row has (thus far) been entirely tied to the founders’ vision. However, experts suggest that their approach is already on the right track to becoming a heritage label.
“I think their intention was not for it to be an Olsen brand, and they’ve been hyper-sensitive to making the brand stand on its own and not rely on their celebrity appeal — which has worked because they’re completely obsessed with product, design and taste,” says Burke. “I think they’re doing all the things that would make it [the next heritage label].”
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