Olsen twins ban cell phones at their brand’s show at Paris Fashion Week and spark debate

Twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, owners of the fashion brand The Row, caused controversy in the fashion world by banning spectators from taking cell phones to their Winter 24/25 collection show.

The show took place last Wednesday (28), at Paris Fashion Week. The censorship of any digital recording of the show generated debate among journalists, influencers and other fashion week attendees. On X (Twitter), journalist Vanessa Friedman, from the New York Times, criticized the ban.

“I would love to show you photos of The Row because it was a really good show, but unfortunately because of their social media policy, I can’t,” he wrote.

On social media, many spectators considered the measure elitist, as it restricts access to the collections to the select public who get an invitation to watch the shows live. Others defended the brand’s policy by saying that the “magic of fashion” is in enjoying the models modeling the pieces live.

In Brazil, blogger Camila Coutinho defended the brand’s decision to ban cell phones at the fashion show. “It makes perfect sense,” she explained on Instagram.

“Many people commented that they found it exclusionary, elitist. But at what point in history was fashion and especially luxury not elitist? That’s what luxury is, the desire for scarcity. This general movement by brands of wanting to reduce access instead of to expand access”, explained Camila, citing as an example other brands such as Phoebe Philo and Bottega Veneta, which do not have social networks.

“They are wanting to speak to their community. And nowadays, with this here [aponta para o celular]a song, a fashion piece that is launched, has a much shorter lifespan, and that is everything that luxury doesn’t want”, he says.

The blogger also cited the quiet luxury trend, seen in series about the world of the ultra-rich such as Succession and White Lotus (both on HBO), in which the characters wear basic-looking pieces but cost at least US$1,000. .

“The ultra-rich club is getting smaller, more restricted and creating silent codes understood only among them. This is the way to bring scarcity beyond price, reducing access”, she says, justifying that, within this reasoning, censorship from The Row to cell phones makes perfect sense.

“I think we’re going to start seeing more and more this type of attitude within the luxury market, whether we like it or not, because not everyone really likes it”, concluded Camila.