J.C. Penney, who’s working to increase its appeal in urban areas, will be launching an edgier junior brand Monday from the Manhattan-based twin celebrity designers Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.

Penney recently opened a Manhattan store and has been working to lure teens with trendy brands for the past two years, which the company hopes will offset slowing sales in suburban malls. Like other celebrity-branded clothing lines, J.C. Penney officials hope that teens who have “grown up with” the 23-year-old former child television and movie stars will be as excited as they are.

Although TV viewers have known the twins for the ‘Full House’ reruns and plenty of paparazzi pictures, the Olsen twins have been running their successful apparel lines ‘The Row’ and ‘Elizabeth and James,’ which are both sold at high-end stores such as Bergdorf Goodman.

According to chairman of retail design and brand consulting firm JGA Ken Nisch, the difference between the Olsen twins and other celebrities (within their age group) is that the Olsens are in fact “good designers and smart business people. It’s less about who they were as personalities but more about combining an eye for fashion, an eye for the business and knowing what the customer wants.”

Ashley Olsen says the two are working under a two-year contract, “but we’re looking at this as a long-term relationship. We know they are as well.”

Images from Wenn.com