Designers Ashley Olsen and Francisco Costa Reveal Their Mutual Love — of Fashion
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A celebrity nearly from birth, Ashley Olsen is the last person you’d expect to get stage jitters. But at last night’s Fashion Group International’s 25th annual Night of Stars in N.Y.C., where she was slated to give a speech honoring Calvin Klein’s creative director Francisco Costa, the star admitted to PEOPLE, “I’m nervous,” adding wryly, “There’s a story there.” The actress, clad in a Calvin Klein column dress, arrived on Costa’s arm, and got a head-start praising her friend, saying, “When I first moved to New York, he’s the guy that really captured my eye. I followed [his work].” For his part, Costa was no less effusive about Olsen’s designs for her labels The Row and Elizabeth & James — especially when it came to the perfect fit of The Row’s pants. “They are actually great,” he said. “In fact, I was with Lauren Hutton. And I said, ‘You look so great!’ And she said, ‘It’s The Row.’ I was just so jealous.” So what does he think accounts for Olsen’s style success? “She really understands herself,” he says. “It’s mostly just what she feels comfortable wearing. It’s her eye.” Olsen sees the same in Costa. “I think it is all in the details for him,” she says. “It’s all in his head. Even if it looks like just a simple garment, you can go up to it and see the details that not many people would consider while fitting a garment.” – Jeffrey Slonim
