Sisters Inc.

Slipping the sterling-silver ring that features a tiger's eye stone bordered with black sapphires on her pointer finger, senior Lexi Friedman, a fashion media major from California, begins to talk about her collaboration with Cast Jewelry, a luxury brand worn by Greta Gerwig, Issa Rae, and Emma Brooks. In the fall of their senior year, Lexi and her twin sister Ari Friedman had the opportunity to create their own reversible ring for Cast Jewelry that encapsulated the duality of their relationship. Between sharing her design ideas and discussing her post-graduate plans at Parsons School of Design, Lexi places the ring on her twin sister and business partner Ari. Wearing a black silk top, Ari pushes the corner of the square-shaped ring, and the gem flips to reveal another side with a mother-of-pearl center and white diamonds around the border. Although Cast popularized the flip ring, the symbolic significance of the statement piece says as much about these designers as it does about the company for which they designed it. The Friedman sisters wanted their creation to convey their similarities and differences. Lexi considers herself edgier, while Ari says her bright-colored wardrobe defines her. Together, their differences enhance the cohesiveness of their teamwork as twin entrepreneurs.
At Southern Methodist University, the sisters did more than collaborate on design projects. They took every class together, shared an apartment, and even applied to graduate school at the same institution. Come fall, Lexi and Ari will enter the fashion management program at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, where they will live together, take classes together, and one day launch their own design company — an achievement that will add them to a long list of creative entrepreneurial sisters leveraging familial bonds to launch a brand. From Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen to Serena and Venus Williams and the Kardashians, high-profile sisters continue to populate popular culture’s fashion corner, using family ties, enhanced creativity, and their sisterhood on social media to boost their followings. Since launching the first season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians in 2007, each Kardashian sister has gained over 200 million Instagram followers. Utilizing their vast network of fans, the Kardashians established their own brands, now valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. Compared with competitors in the quiet luxury category, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen’s “The Row” has a social media following that surpasses Loro Piana, Khaite, Totême, Jill Sander, and the Frankie Shop by an average of 100%. For consumers, the appeal of purchasing from sister-owned companies lies in the brands' storytelling, which gives them an inside look into the wholehearted approach that merges work and personal life. By showcasing their shared passions, enthusiasm, and a deep-rooted understanding of one another, the consumer feels inclined to support their brands' mission rather than vast, impersonal corporations such as LVMH. In addition to the marketing aspects of owning a business, sibling entrepreneurs must prioritize their relationship.
From debilitating high school breakups to losing at Wimbledon, sisters have endured each other’s hardships and navigated life in proximity. In overcoming these adversities and learning to support each other, sisters also develop the ability to listen, negotiate, reach compromises, and satisfy one another. In a recent Forbes article highlighting reasons to consider becoming a business partner with your sibling, author Ziv Kadem shares insights from his personal experience with his brother and business partner. He says, “As children, siblings often spend more time with each other than with parents, friends, teachers, or by themselves. That’s a rock-solid foundation that can be leveraged for life.” Despite sibling rivalries such as the quintessential tennis opponents Serena and Venus Williams, most sisters realize later on in life that family is a resource, not a competitor. For twin sisters Lexi and Ari Friedman, “Because you are related, you want the other person to succeed,” says Ari. “You don’t have to worry about your partner being more successful and getting ahead of you because you value each other’s time and skill sets. And most importantly, honesty is key.”
Similarly, S. Michael Sexton, professor of family entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas, finds that family businesses possess a significant advantage over other firms. In today’s seemingly infinite job market, employees constantly hop around from lily pad to lily pad, uninterested in finding a single pond to settle their career on. With today’s generation stuck in a constant “FOMO” of career options, employers can no longer rely on their employees as dependable assets. For Sexton, the most apparent difference between non-family and family corporations is commitment. “We will do things to put up with hard times for family,” he says. “Employees in other firms are looking for a new job when things get tight.”
For twin sisters and SMU alumni Elizabeth and Katherine Rosbottom, their ability to inspire and amplify each other’s creativity helped fuel a lifelong commitment to launching their luxury, bespoke fashion label Jumelle Collection. During a Zoom conversation about their spring collection, the two designers talk over each other with effusive excitement. Elizabeth, an extroverted personality with long brown hair, interrupts her lookalike, Katherine, who wears the same sweater in black. “We figured out how to execute a classic, sophisticated, and elegant bespoke line that caters to an exclusive clientele with a niche social agenda,” Elizabeth says, explaining the brand’s market and mission. As she speaks, she frequently glances over. She meets her sister’s eyes as she moves on to reminiscing about her graduate studies at Parsons School of Design and Katherine’s at New York University. Post-graduation, Elizabeth launched her own label, Custom Couture Elizabeth Rosbottom, while her sister, Katherine, worked in ultra-luxury real estate for Sotheby's International. Their divergent strengths assist their ability to problem-solve and manage both the creative and managerial sides of a business. But it took a few glasses of Dom Pérignon in Paris in 2019 to inspire them to work together to launch Jumelle in 2023, aiming to position the company in the top 5% to 7% of luxury fashion brands.
Research backs that type of aspirational sibling success. “When we look across business cycles from 1997-2009, we found that the average long-term financial performance was higher for family businesses than for non-family businesses in every country we examined,” reported Nicholas Kachaner, author of “What You Can Learn From Family Business” in Harvard Business Journal. Beyond that report, history also demonstrates that fashionable family enterprises possess remarkable talent and tenacity. From the Prada brothers to the Rodarte sisters, these iconic fashion designer siblings started with little and built their own brick-and-mortar stores in their hometowns. After recognition of their craft and an eventual rise to fame, these siblings climbed their way to the top 10%. Though these sibling entrepreneurs achieved colossal success, scaling their way to the pinnacle was likely imperfect. To prevent partnership fallouts, family business advisors like Sandesh Mestry specialize in offering professional advice for business consulting, strategic planning, team building, and change management. He says, “Whether you’re working with a friend or family member, disagreements are part of doing business. However, siblings must have a strategy for resolving disagreements healthily. A mediator, counselor, or just some dedicated time to talk things over and come up with a plan is all that’s needed.” After enough exposure to conflict resolution, sibling business partners eventually learn what protocol works best for them to overcome hardship.
After pressing the “end call” button on Zoom during my conference with Elizabeth and Katherine Rosbottom, I began to reminisce about the moment I first encountered their charismatic presence. Walking out onto the terrace of Villa Passalacqua back in the summer of 2023 in Lake Como, awaiting my Aperol spritz and prosciutto and melon, my attention gravitated toward the twins at the following table wearing linen polka dot dresses. “Excuse me, ladies,” I said intently. “Where are your dresses from?” With an overtly beaming smile, they said, “It’s Jumelle Collection.” Now, a year after launching their bespoke clothing label, the Rosbottoms plan to expand their business to the public and launch their first e-commerce website for Spring Summer 2024.