Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen hate being called the 'Olsen twins'

Mary-Kate Olsen has declared she and her sister Ashley hate being called the 'Olsen twins' and she finds the label 'disappointing' because they have achieved so much as fashion designers

Olsen twins

Mary-Kate Olsen and her sister Ashley hate being called the "Olsen twins".

The 37-year-old sisters have worked together since their were kids starring in sitcom 'Full House' and making movies as a pair before starting their own fashion company The Row and taking a step back from show business - and Mary-Kate insists they both dislike the label they have been given since they were child stars.

She told the Financial Times: "There’s certain words. Like referring to my sister and I as ‘the Olsen twins’ or ‘The Twins’ or ‘The Girls.’ We’re 37 years old. We have had very interesting lives. We work together. We’re business partners. We’re sisters.

"I think that’s the first thing that comes to mind. How many other people are called ‘the girls’ when they’re designing? I think that’s where the disappointment comes from. And that’s why we feel like the product should just speak for itself.”

However, she is adamant they have used their past experiences to inform them as they built their hugely successful company. Mary-Kate added: "To be able to take from our past experiences, whether it was from the beginning of our life, or career, or life today, has definitely been beneficial."

She also went on to explain why the sisters have stayed away from social media and don't have personal Instagram accounts.

Mary-Kate added: "We’re just private people ... There was a conversation [about Instagram]. It wasn’t very long, and it ended up working out quite well. Ashley and I are not on Instagram. “So that’s the story of Instagram."

The pair are so private Ashley even managed to keep her first pregnancy a secret until months after she had given birth. She is believed to have welcomed her first child - a son - with husband Louis Eisner, 35, around May in New York. The news was reported by TMZ in August with the outlet suggesting the couple named their boy Otto and they were “ecstatic” about becoming parents.