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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
/ | |
Ralph Lauren’s intimate New York show invited the A-list into his | |
studio | |
By Nick Remsen, CNN | |
Updated: | |
1:15 PM EDT, Tue April 30, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
In recent years and with the rise of social media, fashion shows have | |
become somewhat synonymous with broad spectacle. Just take a look at | |
any of the major European labels’ catwalk showcases, with elaborate, | |
expensive sets, custom-built tents that can accommodate hundreds of | |
guests, and thousands of fans screaming outside for the inevitable | |
celebrity arrivals. | |
Ralph Lauren wanted exactly none of that for his Fall/Holiday 2024 | |
runway presentation last night in New York City. | |
The designer instead looked inward to host something a bit more | |
private, but no less impactful: he invited less than 100 guests to his | |
design studio, nine floors above Madison Avenue. There, the audience | |
— which, yes, did include A-listers like Kerry Washington, Jessica | |
Chastain, Morgan Spector and “Hacks” star Hannah Einbinder; even | |
low-key shows need celebrity wattage, after all — lounged on leather | |
Mies van der Rohe-inspired chairs as the lights brightened and the | |
proceedings began. | |
The salon-style show — constructed to recall a very similar runway | |
the designer held for his first womenswear show in 1972, also in his | |
then studio — struck a calm yet galvanizing chord. | |
“I wanted something more intimate,” Lauren, 84, told CNN afterwards | |
during dinner at The Polo Bar, the buzzy Manhattan restaurant his | |
company launched in 2015. (He was about to dig into one of the | |
eatery’s famed “Polo burgers.”) “And I always do what I | |
believe, what feels right.” | |
Supermodel Christy Turlington walked first. She wore a cashmere coat, | |
broken-in trousers and booties all rendered in a pale taupe hue. It set | |
the tone for a color scheme of rich neutrals, which dominated | |
throughout. In fact, unlike Lauren’s , in which Washington was | |
outfitted, the collection featured zero bright colors — a palette | |
cleanser, rather, by way of lush gray-browns and silvers and faded | |
browns. | |
A number of looks featured western motifs, from cowboy hats to a | |
bandana tie to aged leather jackets. The theme is on trend – in large | |
part due to Beyoncé and her most recent album, “Cowboy Carter” – | |
yet Lauren has long worked western aesthetics into his brand and its | |
ever-aspirational world-building. (Among many other touchpoints of | |
Americana, that is, including the other big talking point of the | |
moment: .) | |
In a way that few can do — and in a way that Lauren has mastered, and | |
remastered, over the years — there was also razzle-dazzle woven | |
alongside the neutrality of the collection. A number of dresses were | |
all-over sequined or sparkled, adding a layer of tasteful, luxe glamor. | |
Model Anok Yai’s closing look hit all of the show’s talking points | |
in one: a shimmering silk dress in golden taupe, topped with a cowboy | |
hat. At the afterparty, she wore the same look, accessorizing it | |
further with chunky metal cross necklaces. | |
In Lauren’s words, the collection’s understated colors and its luxe | |
coziness — even with its pops of glitz — were “non-frou frou.” | |
“I wanted it simple,” he explained. | |
At The Polo Bar, where martinis flowed and the dinner went late, Glenn | |
Close was sat to Lauren’s left. She wore a champagne-hued Ralph | |
Lauren jacket; he was in a cowboy shirt with black and turquoise | |
insets. In the glow of the restaurant’s rich wood paneling and golden | |
overhead light, the scene felt briefly like a flashback (I looked | |
around and didn’t see anybody on their phones, except for me, | |
recording my chat with the designer.) It could have been decades ago. | |
And that’s the point. | |
When asked what resonates most with Lauren these days, he said, with | |
the wisdom of over fifty years in business to his name: | |
“timelessness.” | |
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