THE ROW'S ROAD TO $1 BILLION

How the American luxury brand became an independent behemoth and what a new round of investment could mean for its future.

An image from The Row's Spring 2023 lookbook. Photo: The Row.

In the summer of 2010, I was flipping through the racks in either Barneys or Bergdorfs, I can’t remember which, when a sales associate in a tailored black suit power walked past, her junior colleague in tow, and in an exasperated tone exclaimed, “I just don’t get The Row!” She wasn’t alone. At the time, there was tremendous suspicion about this new-ish ‘celebrity brand’ that was just beginning to seriously infiltrate retail’s most revered outposts. What that sales associate could not have known was that I was interning for The Row at the time straight out of high school (and would go on to freelance for a couple of years thereafter). Despite the reservations of many onlookers, I knew the brand was special and have watched closely as it’s developed into one of the most widely respected players in the game.

Late last week, news broke that The Row’s founders, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, achieved a $1 billion valuation while securing new capital from the Wertheimer family (owners of Chanel), a L’Oreal heiress, and investment vehicles headed by Natalie Massenet (founder of Net-a-Porter) and Lauren Santo Domingo (co-founder of Moda Operandi), respectively. Internet chatter was mixed with some fearful that the new funds could come with strings that hamper the quality and creativity that have made The Row one of the defining labels of the past decade. But memories are short. The Row is nearly 20 years old and it has gone through more than one metamorphosis (and more than one investor) over the course of two decades. The next one, spurred on by this infusion of cash, is primed to be the most transformative yet.