London Fashion Week kicked off with a bang this week as fashion risk-takers Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen picked up Style Icons of the Year honors at the 2010 Elle Style Awards in the British capital on Monday night.

Ashley and her twin sister Mary-Kate have been in the public eye since they were hired as infants to star as Michelle Tanner on the ABC sitcom Full House in 1987.

“I look at Britney, and I’m surprised I didn’t end up like her,” Ashley, now 23, remarks in the September issue of Marie Claire Magazine.

Ashley has taken a vacation from acting, instead turning her focus to nurturing her growing fashion empire. She confesses that her stressful childhood has left her jaded toward showbusiness, “(Growing up) it was almost like I was in the army. School, work, homework, fly to New York, get in at two in the morning, do a morning show at 5am, then another one at seven, then a radio interview at 10.”

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The sisters have been recognized by the exclusive organization for their contributions to American fashion through their labels, The Row and the Elizabeth and James collection, named after their younger brother and sister.

Mary Kate & Ashley will join fellow big name designers Alexander Wang, Jason Wu, and Maria Pinto when they are welcomed as new members of the CFDA in a dinner at Manhattan’s Four Seasons Restaurant on October 21, British Elle announced Tuesday.

Acclaimed designer Diane von Furstenberg, who is CFDA President, will host the affair.

Ashley Olsen is turning her focus away from acting to pursue her dream of fashion design full-time.

Ashley and her twin sisters Mary-Kate are already partners on the women’s clothing line, The Row, but it is Ashley who has taken over the day-to-day operationher sister continues to act.

She tells VMAN Magazine: “I’ve been transitioning from acting as a kid to doing something that I’m choosing for myself – to be part of the fashion industry. That’s what I want for my future. It has nothing to do with my past, nothing to do with anyone else’s agenda. And I followed my heart the whole way.”

Ashley adds, “The Row is really something that I’m doing while my sister still wants to focus on acting. She’s my partner in The Row, but she trusts me with the everyday. I mean, I see her like 10 times a day.”

The 22-year-old twins shared the part of “Michelle” on the hit series from nine months old to age 8.

“Full House is on all the time. Really. I see that it’s on. But last year, Ashley spent the night at my place and I woke up to the theme song at seven in the morning,” MK reveals in the March issue of Interview.

She also revealed Full House producers used bribery to get a young Mary-Kate and Ashley to complete their scenes.

“We would get little gummy bears – like a gummy bear cut into three pieces. And we’d crawl to the gummy bear or reach for it. The outtakes of Full House are pretty funny.”

“We basically learned how to talk in front of the cameras by copying somebody else’s words or movements.”

The Hollywood Walk of Fame stars of actresses Sharon Stone andd Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were defaced and smudged with the words “FUR HAGS!” by anti-fur campaigners over the weekend.

Activists supporting animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have made a campaign of routinely discouraging the use of fur and protesting against the torture inflicted on animals as part of the fur trade.

Spotted At

Remind me to never shake hands with Ashley Olsen.

After catching a screening of Revolutionary Road at a Regal Cinema in NYC’s Union Square neighborhood this week, the pint-sized media mogul was spied leaving the Ladies Restroom without washing her hands.

Animal rights activists’ favorite fur-wearing celebrity sibs are seeking to expand their literary franchise with the publication of a new book for kids.

With their coffee table book Influence flying off the shelves of booksellers’ across America, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have decided to once again put on their author caps and pen another national bestseller.

The mini-moguls are diligently working on their first children’s book, based on none other than the subject they know best-twins!

“Mary-Kate is doing the illustrations, while Ashley is coming up with the story,” a friend reveals to Star. “They’re hoping to do an entire series based on this concept.”

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen join 23 other famous faces, including Kate Hudson, Cindy Crawford, Denise Richards, Elisha Cuthbert, Felicity Huffman, Salma Hayek, and Susan Sarandon, as vintage pin-up girls in the Timothy White’s new photography book, Hollywood Pinups.

Happy Halloween!

While you were sleeping, Ashley Olsen stopped by the Late Show on Thursday, where she promoted the Olsens’ new book, Influence, with funnyman David Letterman.