Ashley Olsen has found a home in high fashion; a natural lodging for her, really. Most of her life Olsen has been tooling and tailoring clothes, often out of necessity. Her first clothing line resulted from she and sister Mary-Kate cutting down adult-sized clothes to fit, so, as children, they had clothes sharp enough to wear to business meetings. Later, Ashley's custom tailoring was a function of her taste; the actress vigorously reworking couture pieces with a street attitude in her late teens. Ultimately, her instinctive approach is more workroom than wardrobe. In the purist sense, Ashley is a self-made woman.

"People and attitudes have always inspired me. I was never a magazine girl. Architecture also inspires me, in a very specific way. I guess that's where it comes from. I love studying how things are built, and then breaking it all down," she admits.

Even her fashion label, The Row, now an expansive high-end collection, was structured off the back of not being able to find the perfect T-shirt: "I kept wearing an '80s Calvin Klein T-shirt that belonged to my Mom's friend." She soon discovered there was a gap in the market for chic and impeccable wardrobe staples, and decided to create them for herself. "I wanted it be special; a well-fitted garment, one that was sexy, loose and chic, feminine, but kind of fit like a man's shirt fits a man, not like a woman's fit," she explains of the basic luxury that was proving all too elusive.

At just 22, Olsen is a rare bird. A true minimalist, she is also a whimsical hunter-gatherer, and her impeccable eye for aesthetics comes coupled with a shrewd head for business. But even more so, together with Mary-Kate, Ashley has managed to outwit the celebrity odds; a child actor that isn't damaged, she grew up to be tasteful, discreet and disciplined. "My parents are sensible people. I had a very normal upbringing. Education was important to my dad, but it was also about the environment at school and being around other regular kids, and learning from them. We were not sheltered in that way," she explains matter-of-factly.

Olsen's acting career seems to be taking a backseat of late to her role as company owner and designer, such is her dedication to her craft. This decision has her holed up for now in Manhattan's West Village. "I've got to say I fully embrace New York City, I really do call it my home now. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, and I always thought I would consider that my home, but I really love it here," the designer confirms.

While she has had the occasional famous encounter (Lance Armstrong was one much-speculated dalliance), Ashley doesn't seek out the company of other celebs. Her circle of friends are a mixture of fellow downtown types-fashion packers, artists, writers. Far from an entourage, these are people with their own lives and day jobs. "I just like to be with my friends and my family. I'm a very private person, but I am really fascinated by people. Their lifestyles, their relationships...I love that I get to come across so many interesting and creative people," says Olsen, happy with her current mix of work and play.

T.V. stars from the age of nine months, Ashley and her sister had a cult-like fanbase that gobbled up the sunny and affordable products the pair began creating in the early '90s. But when, at 18, the marketing princesses of mainstream America stepped out from behind their brand, they appeared arch contrarians. The girls had grown up to be seemingly complex and guarded individuals, stylized, with sophisticated tastes. Wearing a combination of layered couture garb, oversized accessories-visor-like sunglasses, Chanel carpet bags, a jewelry box-worth of chains and rings-Ashley and Mary-Kate's diminutive frames appeared to almost buckle under the strain as they tottered on Louboutin stick heels. Now, in addition to their tween followers, the rest of the world were craning to look as well. Their aesthetic was extreme-part Rose Kennedy, part Jack Sparrow-but this was more than bored little rich girls playing dress-up.

As it turned out the young actresses created a genre of dressing that was not only emulated by fashion editors, the essence then filtering to the market, but also applauded by designers from Karl Lagerfeld to John Galliano, and Zac Posen (for whom Ashley interned while attending NYU). Surely most designers yawn when preening actresses and socialites wear their creations in a manner that makes them appear more production line than runway. The world was buzzed out on luxury, and the actresses took couture and put an eccentric street spin on it. Pure, authentic, original style; not professionally dressed or put together by anything but their own whimsy. Studied, but not contrived, their looks were as reviving as a strong gust through a musty atelier. Without creating a thing, the sisters managed to inspire the global fashion industry-such is the real and raw power of an Olsen.

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