Ralph Lauren fall 2022

He just proves my point ... you know when I constantly harp on signatures and that bells and whistles don’t make you a great designer. Then again, this man has probably one of the best styling teams in the business who are of one like mind and that is THE BRAND!

Some will yawn and some will dismiss, and I say well, how long do you think these designers of the moment will survive in this business. Ralph has unquestionably withstood the test of time and successfully invaded so many contiguous branches of fashion and he’s not the flavor of the month nor does he receive glowing reviews every season for any of it and yet the collection is immediately recognizable on an international scale.

So how many Instagram famous so-called designers can boast a public company that THEY started and has sustained itself for over half a century... most of them will quickly be forgotten when the next flavor of the month appears and will leave no discernible mark that they ever were here!

For some reason this collection made me think of the Clothilde days and that’s certainly not a bad thing at all. It’s slick, its ageless, it’s classic, its timeless and it’s slick or it’s not ... that’s up to you. Yawn if you will, listen to the clap trap that designers offer as justification for what they show or just watch how it’s done and what you get when it’s done correctly!

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Ralph Lauren SPRING 2021 ... see it now ... buy it now

Ralph, as the lone ranger, continues on his show it and buy it in his stores. Some say, including myself at times, that Ralph is repetitive or boring, but there is not one single designer who has managed to tweak and massage his brand’s DNA better than Mr. Lauren... yet its never really boring and never unwearable.

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As you can see, he is well aware of the state of this pandemic world we live in and offers clothes that hopefully within in a few months women will be wearing to go out to lunch, perhaps to some one’s home for dinner or even possibly to a social event while observing all the protocols that have been put in place and continue to change day by day,

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I think I’d like to say that this collection displays a facet of the brand that we rarely see and that is minimalism. No muss, no fuss, very little ornamentation or decoration; just simple beautiful clothes for women of all ages that serve a multitude of purposes and occasions that lie ahead.... hopefully.

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Maybe we can call it Ralph Light, but no matter what you call it, it’s slick, lean, clean, refined and just as much at home in in NYC, Malibu, Beverly Hills, Paris, Milan or Tokyo. To me that is something that few other designers can claim. He designed intelligently, realistically and most of all fashionably!

Ralph Lauren fall 2019 women’s .. wear it now

Think slick, simple, broad appeal, raffiné, variety, unadorned, when your own look is enough, tasteful, consistent, faithful to the brand’s DNA

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There is very little to say here other than the fact that Ralph gets it! Many will say nothing new here and yet they laud the likes of Tom Talentless Ford where there was literally nothing new in his wildly repetitive phoned in collection.

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To be perfectly blunt, this is what Tom Ford might have looked like if he had an ounce of talent or a milligram of vision.

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These clothes speak for themselves and speak to women of every age who just want to look beautifully dressed without any bells and whistles. 

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Marinate on that if you will.

In celebration of Ralph Lauren and 50 years of fashion

I am not sure I can possibly bring anything new to the conversation about Ralph Lauren. He has consistently delivered clothes for real people pinched with fantasy and aspiration. Last evening’s event is proof positive that fashion is not about reinventing the wheel or following the next trend but instead it is truly about great clothes, consistency and a point of view.

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Unquestionably he has the resources, the clout and finances to stage an extravaganza such as this but it’s the clothes! The clothes seen as a whole are … a universe… a look... a luxe and yet and every day kind of style that can be achieved by anyone of any generation.

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Lauren has the most incredibly brilliant styling and design studios that can turn the mundane into a fashion statement. Last night laid testament to all of that and more. Ralph Lauren is so much more than a brand as he has created a world of Ralph Lauren and it is a universal language spoken all over the world by consumers of every age.

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Trendoids, influencers and fashion victims will call it boring and tired but who else can boast half of a century of being in business and in these times not owned by some conglomerate who seeks hype more than style and fashion. Kudos to all concerned... past and present … as this is a brand literally for the ages that will have outlived most if not all of its competition if there is any

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Ralph Lauren NYFW fall 2017.. show now / shop now

In keeping with show now shop now, we get Ralph Lite! There was an amazing difference and possibly disconnect in presentation as well as mood. I guess the best way to express it is to say what was shown lacked the usual polish that he has perfected all these years. I got this overwhelming earth mother vibe, this haute hippie thing as well as this very suburban wannabe wasp…  gone was the perfect golden girl, the aspirational Grace Kelly type of woman we have gotten so accustomed to seeing on his catwalks

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I ask myself is it possible that these pieces were production and not sample room made?  The finish looked off. Yes, there were a few pieces which were quite beautiful, yes all the Ralph DNA was front and center but again, something was not quite right. Yes, the models were perfectly made up but even their overall appearance seemed to be not the usual fare. Yes, shocked to see platform shoes but loved the oversized animal print totes and bags. Yes, I got the Out of Africa vibe even if it is some 30 years later. Yes, pretty much timeless but at lack of a better adjective… it just wasn’t as pretty as it always has been.

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So one has to question the value of this show now shop now idea... me... I’m not getting it!

Ralph Lauren (Purple Label) NYFW fall 2017

Anyone who has followed Ralph Lauren over the decades can speak to Ralph’s undeniable appeal when it comes to menswear. Some would call it safe, boring, repetitive, tired, classic, waspy, cowboy/western inspired, gentlemanly, aspirational but few would call it sexy, trendy or earth shattering. 

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Facts are facts and yes most of the above adjectives are pretty much right on target except that this season may be the first season that the clothes have a somewhat macho sexy appeal that has never been sensed or transmitted before. Maybe it’s the age appropriate casting or the slimmed down silhouettes or the ingenious styling that inhabits the entire Ralph Lauren universe. Don’t misunderstand me in that the brand DNA is front and center and he has not veered from the staples of design that made him famous. If you think about it, he has been inspiration to so many new brands without receiving any credit. Ralph has been tweaking classics for longer than most of these so called designers have been on this earth.

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Fall 2017 is not stellar, is not trend setting is not gonna rock your world, but it gives men great clothes to actually wear. Take note of the elongated cardigan sweaters and the cowboy fringe which for Ralph Lauren men is actually pretty earth  shattering, but not unexpected, and yet in the sphere of Ralph it is nothing more than timeless with a twist! Said it ... wrote it ... meant it!!

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