Please Note: I’ve Written an Open Letter to The Row As Well

Mine is less a breakup and more like a vow renewal.

Before Mary-Kate and Ashley—and before Virgil Abloh—my roster was tight: legacy, largely handcrafted in Europe, and, with one exception, deceased. Jean-Michel Frank, Dorothy Thorpe, Hubert de Givenchy, Isamu Noguchi, Ralph Lauren, Agnes Martin, Claude Lalanne, Alberto Giacometti, Madame Grès, Azzedine Alaïa, Gabrielle Chanel, William Asprey, and my day-one, number-one: Thierry Hermès.

My love affair with The Row began in the summer of 2007, with a $195 purchase that felt like a secret amongst the elusive: a sheer white T-shirt from Barneys Beverly Hills. It had no label—just a thin gold chain loop inside the collar. I wore it with a black bra and a pleated skirt, or tight, worn-in blue jeans; sometimes under an oversized cashmere sweater stolen from a boyfriend, or my favorite blazer: a YSL smoking jacket I shared with my best friend. The shoes were always either perfectly beat-up thrifted boots or one of the two pairs of Louboutins I owned as a twenty-something party girl in downtown New York.

Carole used to call me a “banquette girl”—an introvert, but a flirty one—always perched on top of the furniture.

That T-shirt became my uniform. I wore it all summer, then well into winter as lingerie, with no bra. I wore it on the rare mornings I emerged from my four-story walk-up on Bedford Street for a coffee or a breakfast sandwich from my corner bodega. In my memory, I simply picked it up off the floor, threw on a baseball cap and a maybe some expensive perfume, and walked down the stairs looking plain, effortless, sexy, cool—nonchalant-cool.

I wore it perched on the first banquette to the left of the bar at David Rabin’s Double Seven; passing by Angelo at the door of the Beatrice Inn; bending down to air-kiss Anthony at Socialista; and in the rec room with Amy Sacco at Bungalow 8. After the club, you could find me wearing that same T-shirt at the poker table in Hank Azaria’s Soho loft—or getting a ride home in the back of Irv Gotti’s Maybach.

The original t-shirt by The Row: pictured left on Ashley, right on me.

As a founder of consumer brands, I’m often asked, “Which brands do you most admire?” My answer is always Hermès. Then they ask about contemporary brands—and my answer is always The Row.

The Row has been on my mood board since day one. Just after they launched in 2006, they uploaded a video that had a profound effect on me as I was dreaming up my own content and commerce company. I found it on YouTube. This was before brands made content that wasn’t traditional print or television advertising. This was before the word content was even used in the context of marketing. Before Instagram, TikTok, and GRWM hashtags, The Row made a short form video. One that told a story of a girl getting dressed in the Hollywood Hills. A girl I definitely wanted to be.

Before The Row had a traditional tag, they used a gold chain

The love story continued into my thirties in Los Angeles. My cofounder at VIOLET GREY, Tiffany Bensley, was also employee number one and a cofounder of The Row. She built the brand with Mary-Kate and Ashley from 2006 to 2013, and built VIOLET GREY with me and Ariella Feldman from 2013 to 2017.

Please Note: Tiffany produced The Row video from YouTube

I was simply in the right place at the right time: I was in L.A., about to raise my first seed round, and she had just left The Row’s New York headquarters to move back to L.A. for love—and was looking for her next brand to build. This was a time when no one worked remotely; you lived where the company lived.

She had me at “The Row” on her CV.

Our first meeting took place in our first office, which is now—no coincidence—the back office of The Row on Melrose Place. Later, Tiffany and I secured The Row’s first retail location in the John Elgin Woolf building, where the VIOLET GREY flagship stands today. Tiffany operationalizes dreams—arguably the best creative partner in the business. She always described the work we were doing as building legacy which is the lens in which I operate today. She also wears head-to-toe The Row samples that were never produced. Like what the actual fuck.

Her “fits of the day” were legendary in our office. She’s shy and private; otherwise, she might have been the face of quiet luxury—not an influencer, but the brand itself. Those first five years building with Tiffany and Ariella were the best years of my career— certainly the most fun and fashionable.

I don’t shop often, and when I do, I shop in shops—specifically three: The Row on 71st and Madison, The Row on Melrose Place, and The Row at Hirshleifers. I shop like a stylist or a market editor, spending hours, sometimes the entire day, curating the investment pieces. The good stuff. Like that perfect 2007 T-shirt, everything I’ve ever bought from The Row is still in my closet—not old, not tired, but evidence of a life well lived.

When I was pregnant with Jules and could only stomach bagels with cream cheese, I went from a waif—all of 107 pounds soaking wet—to 178 pounds of fat baby fat, and I wore only The Row and Birkenstocks. Now that I think about it, did The Row invent “fits everyone” before “fits everyone” was a thing?

I occasionally step out on the twins with vintage dealers—I have one in Palm Beach and one in Dallas. For jeans, I recently discovered Lenny, a girl who sources thousands of Levi’s and a handful of Wranglers. She has a shop in L.A. but brings the shop to New York twice a year in a pop up situation. You book an appointment, try on all the pairs you like, then she tailors them to your body on the spot, and they arrive six to nine weeks later. Upstate, I always go to Nina Z—part thrift, part niche and new. And every few months, I drive out to Manhasset to Hirshleifers, where we have a VIOLET GREY shop-in-shop. I spend the day shopping their edit. They have the best fashion edit in the world. In the world. On my last visit, I bought the pieces from The Row I hadn’t seen in-store, picked up these Alaïa barrel-leg jeans, two pairs of Chanel Cinderella flats, plus these Miu Miu ballets, a pair of green Celine rain boots. and a cool girl YSL leather jacket that I will never feel cool enough to wear, but I love it and it brings me joy in my closet. Hmmm….what else can I tell you? I think we may need those windbreaker jackets and lacy underpinnings Hailey Bieber has been wearing from Yves Saint Laurent. Lemme text Marci Hirshleifer.

And of course, I buy my jewelry from FD Gallery, all my cosmetics from VIOLET GREY, and my pharmaceuticals from Zitomer. Conveniently located on UES.

So yes—I’ve been married to The Row for most of my adult life. I remain passionately committed to the season we’re in, and excited for all the seasons to come.

Put It in The Bag: The Row Edition

Please find my latest investment pieces from The Row for your consideration. Expensive but Worth It.

1. The Bonnet.

   The Milona Bonnet in cashmere. The internet is swooning over Zoë Kravitz’s “sweet knit bonnet” she was papped in this week in Rome. It is made by The Row. They made it in two colors; navy blue and charcoal. I bought both. I feel like they are not going to have them again. I also bought one for my friend who travels a lot and gave her it to her along with the Madame Grey, now for traveling. I also invested in the The Mentas cashmere scarf in dark gray and The Leomine cashmere scarf in taupe to complete my winter wardrobe.

   

   Zoë papped in Rome.

   

   Me “traveling” in my new bonnet, jacket that is also a shirt, and sunnies from The Row.

2. The Coats and Capes.

   The Ryo Silk Wrap Coat (I bought mine at Hirshleifers) —slinky and weightless, it’s nonchalant glamour indeed. It seems as if there are less than a handful left online—if you’re a size 2, size 4 or size 6, that is.

   Please Note: I did some investigative reporting for any remaining inventory, I came across a retailer called Senser (?) somehow they not only have sizes in stock but they are on sale. I have never ordered from them so purchase at your own risk.

   I just ordered The Erdene Coat—a tailored tuxedo coat in lightweight textured virgin wool with a satin shawl collar from my S.A., Edward, at The Row Mansion on the UES. Edward informed me that Ashley recently wore it to the CFDA awards this year (styled with a vintage brooch from FD Gallery—chic).

   If you’re on the market for a wool coat the The Hariet Coat is a staple.

   And if you like suede this season, I tried on The Solana suede trench on Melrose Place (see below).

   Finally, if you prefer your coats on the heavier side, go with The Macaria Belted Wool Oversized Coat (size 0, size 2, size 4 & 8). Rachel and I took turns trying it on at the Melrose Place shop and felt anxiously attached by the end (it’s like a weighted safety blanket, but cinched at the waist).

   Bonus coat because I can’t help myself: The Justino Scarf-Detailed Cape-Effect Wool Coat.

   

   Ashley in my new coat and a vintage brooch from FD Gallery.

   

   Rachel took this pic of the suede coat just before she was quietly made aware of The Row’s strict no phones policy.

3. The Sweatsuit.

   The Liyana Pant and the Levine Top under a trench is my cool mom drop off uniform this winter. They’re both practically sold out (limited sizes remain).

4. A Shirt Jacket.

   The Kaida Jacket is my weekend in the country layering investment piece. When I am upstate, I go to the grocery store every morning and this shirt, that is also a jacket, is my look. Kind of like in my twenties in New York, I throw it over a perfect white tee and jeans, beat up boots, grab my car keys and off I go to shop for french butter and heirloom tomatoes.

5. The Tights.

   I love wearing tights as pants and the row made exactly this, The Row Mimi Stretch-Knit tights. The right pair of tights will make your winter. I style them with an oversized anything—Brad’s old shirts, chunky knits, a PJ shirt, my shirt that is also a jacket from above—and I tell anyone who will listen how much I love tights. I also love the oatmeal hue paired with the matching sleeveless cashmere sweater (see below). Matching sets like these make me happy. It’s the little things. The expensive little things.

   

   Imagining how cute I’ll look in the matching set described above.

6. A pair of shearling slip on mules.

   The Hudson Fur-Lined Suede Slide Mules. I am fairly certain this is the first time The Row did this. Add to cart.

   

7. The Cargo Pant.

   A must for my capsule wardrobe, The Sharka Cargo Pants.

8. The Classic Cotton Button-down.

   The Sadie Cotton Poplin Button-Down Shirt. No explanation necessary.

   

   Classic investment pieces.

9. The Sunglasses.

   I wear the cat eyed black sunglasses Zoë is wearing, also from The Row, purchased circa 2022, now impossible to source, but sometimes they have them in-store. I just bought this oval pair in taupe and brown and was planning to link it, but it seems they have now vanished from the internet as well. I need to do a deeper dive into how The Row releases their sunglasses. More on this later.

   

10. The Bag.

    I’ve never been a bag person. I don’t have a daughter. I’ve never been interested in a Birkin despite my VIC status at Hermes. But more recently, as I walk around the neighborhood in my tights and oversized sweaters, I am thinking I need a crocodile bag dangling on my arm. One packed with everything a good mom should have in her bag. One that will one day look really good next to my Cartier garter clips in my estate catalogue. Edward is aware of my ideas and is working with me to choose the right one.