Ralph Lauren officially entered the destination runway show stakes Thursday night with his spring 2025 Hamptons extravaganza at a verdant equestrian estate.
The nearly eight hours of total of travel time from Manhattan to Bridgehampton and back, the day before the official start of New York Fashion Week, left a lot of the fashion crowd frustrated. And if Lauren plans to move into this phase of brand building permanently, he will need to also compete with the comfort, hospitality and amenities that European luxury brands offer guests during their multiday destination shows in far-flung locales.
Still, once people had arrived to Khalily Stables, he delivered on experience — and star power.
First Lady Jill Biden was hobnobbing with Usher, Jude Law was mugging for cameras on the step-and-repeat, influencers were posing in front of several of the designer’s classic cars trucked in for the evening and supermodels helicoptered in from Manhattan. And that was all before the show even started.
Once guests were esconced in their seats in the tent, the show and collection washed over the senses like the opening song of the yacht rock soundtrack, Christopher Cross’ “Sailing.”
The backdrop — a horse grazing at sunset against white picket fences — was a Hollywood worthy set for the latest iteration of the Ralph Lauren fashion dreamscape, inspired by the designer’s history of visiting the Hamptons with his family since the 1970s and his evolving brand story.
From the most adorable kids on the runway right out of central casting to two icons closing the show who have a decades-long history with the brand, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington, this was Lauren firing on all cylinders, selling sunny optimism and a feel-good factor that few if any designers working today can match.
The show featured looks from across the designer’s universe, including Ralph Lauren Collection, Purple Label and Polo Ralph Lauren for men, women and children, drawing on all of the house codes — ruffled romanticism, varsity prep, rugged western, Americana, “Great Gatsby” glamour — and remixing them for the younger generations that have fallen in love all over again with the brand.
One can’t overstate the importance of looser and more modern styling to the evolution of Ralph Lauren in recent seasons. Take the opening women’s look — white Bermuda shorts paired with a maritime stripe T-shirt, bandana neckerchief, fringed sea blue suede jacket, white western belt and derby shoes. The mix made it chic and younger. Same thing with another women’s look that paired black short shorts, a shirt and tie with mary jane shoes, and a chunky blanket cardigan in a thousand shades of blue. It isn’t one thing, as Lauren likes to say himself, it’s a lot of things — reshuffled and recontextualized for today.
Ralph Lauren Spring 2025 Ready-to-Wear Collection
Giovanni Giannoni/WWD
Somehow, Lauren has been able to continually reintroduce his iconic preppy sportswear pieces, including the American Flag sweater. Originally launched in 1989, it’s recently become a Gen Z hero piece, worn by Ella Emhoff during the Democratic National Convention, and selling briskly when I visited the Madison Avenue flagship earlier this week. Knitwear as a whole, including classic cable knits, is resonating well with teenagers and young adults, said David Lauren, the designer’s son and the company’s vice chairman and chief innovation officer.
Preppy is undoubtedly back, only now it’s less uniform, as evidenced by men’s mix ‘n’ match looks of tweed jackets and cargos, pinstripes and silky baseball jackets, and all the peppy colorblocking. Perhaps the trend is creative prep.
Cases in point: the classic Polo pony windbreaker making a dressy statement worn by Naomi Campbell with a floor-grazing white skirt, and the classic polo shirt stretched into a chic drapey long dress, topped with a beaded skull cap nodding to Lauren’s love of “The Great Gatsby.”
The faded denim, washed madras plaids, equestrian belts and breeches that have been mainstays of the designer’s toolbox for decades were worn by a widened brand family. Navajo model Quannah Chasinghorse and Kiowa/Comanche model Philip Bread walked the runway, representing Lauren’s recent efforts to acknowledge and honor the Native American design he’s cribbed from for so many years, by launching an Artist in Residence program and collaborating with Navajo weaver Naiomi Glasses.
One of the key strategies under chief executive officer Patrice Louvet has been brand elevation, and that could be seen in the Made in Italy collection pieces with couture level workmanship, including a dazzling gold beaded and fringed column skirt worn with a simple white tank top that was the picture of American glamour. So, too, was a pearl dégradé tank gown hand embroidered with more than 200,000 pearls.
In a charming, old school touch, a member of the design team was going table to table during the post-show dinner with the model in the gown, talking up the workmanship and letting guests touch it for themselves.
Family and feel-good factor for the win.
