Gilles Bensimon photographed the twins Mary-Kate is a brunette and Ashley is blond in the presidential suite of the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan.

"We have been fans of Mark and James for years and were honored when approached to appear in the campaign," Ashley said in a statement.

Mary-Kate described the clothes in the fall collection as "glamorous, beautiful, colorful and fun."

The designers have worked with famous twins before: They dressed Barbara and Jenna Bush for last year's inaugural ball.

Since sharing the role of Michelle Tanner on the '80s comedy "Full House," the Olsens have created a multimedia empire, Dualstar Entertainment Group, with a clothing line, movies, DVDs and other merchandise.

The ad campaign will be the first time they have promoted a brand outside of their own company, said Iconix Brand Group Inc., which markets and licenses the Badgley Mischka trademarks on a variety of apparel and fashion products.

Both sisters were enrolled at New York University, but Mary-Kate, who spent six weeks at a treatment center for an eating disorder in the summer of 2004, took a leave of absence early in her sophomore year in 2005 to devote more time to her business.

Last month, Mary-Kate was targeted by acid-tongued fashion critic Mr. Blackwell in his 46th annual "Worst Dressed" list. He called her clothes "bag lady rags" and "depressingly decayed."

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Stars on Ice for "Skating"

by Sarah Hall
Sep 7, 2005, 12:25 PM PT

A handful of has-been celebrities are hoping to heat up their careers by taking to the ice.

Fox has announced the cast of its upcoming reality series Skating with Celebrities, in which six famous folk will be partnered with six stars of the figure skating world to compete for rink supremacy.

Among the contestants lacing up their skates for the series are Dave Coulier (Full House), Todd Bridges (Diff'rent Strokes), Deborah Gibson ("Electric Youth") and Kristy Swanson (Dude, Where's My Car?).

Following on the heels of ABC's breakout hit, Dancing with the Stars, Skating also hopes to put its celebs through their paces, though instead of dance moves, they'll be trying to land axels, toe loops and the like over the course of six episodes.

Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton will host the competition, while his fellow gold medalist Dorothy Hamill will serve as one of the judges. Pro skaters Nancy Kerrigan, Kurt Browning and Tai Babilonia will be among those partnering with the celebrities for the series.

"For most people, it's tough enough to learn these types of moves while on the dance floor or working out in the gym," Fox's Executive Vice President of Alternative Programming Mike Darnell said in a statement. "This competition will require our celebrity skaters to not only demonstrate rhythm, but also athleticism, grace and balance...on ice, and before a team of unforgiving judges with both Olympic and world championship experience. No doubt there will be plenty of falls, bruises and scary moments."

The series is filming now and is expected to air this fall.

Though the stars were allowed a month of training time before the actual competition begins, each of the celebs had to bring some skating experience to the table.

"All of the celebrities in the competition not only have the ability to skate, but the desire to excel and become great," executive producer Arthur Smith said in a statement. "What's really interesting is that even at the training level, a competition between the pairs is already developing."

Here's a breakdown of the Skating with Celebrities matchups:

• Dave Coulier and two-time Olympic figure skating medalist Nancy Kerrigan
• Olympic decathlon gold medalist and television personality Bruce Jenner with world champion pairs figure skater Tai Babilonia
• Todd Bridges with three-time U.S. national pairs figure skating champion and world championship medalist Jenni Meno
• Kristy Swanson with two-time Olympic pairs figure skating medalist and world champion Lloyd Eisler
• Deborah Gibson with four-time world figure skating champion Kurt Browning
• Television personality, reporter and weather forecaster Jillian Barberie with three-time U.S. pairs figure skating champion and world championship medalist John Zimmerman

The winners of the contest will be entirely determined by the judges' panel, as opposed to a viewer vote.

Meanwhile, in an effort to quell the controversy caused by Kelly Monaco's surprise victory over John O'Hurley on Dancing with the Stars, ABC has announced plans for a dance-off on Sept. 20 to settle the matter for once and for all.

The results, based solely on viewer voting, will be announced in a Sept. 22 telecast.