Even as the USA’s reputational stock falters, global regard for Ralph Lauren—the most all-American of American brands—is on the up: Vogue Business last month reported the company’s sales in Europe and China had increased 12 per cent and 9 per cent respectively in the fiscal year 2025.
That uptick means that the majority of the company’s total $7.1 billion of revenue for the same period was generated beyond the Land of The Free. So during a period where luxury more broadly has also been faltering, how has RL been bucking the trend two-fold? This evening’s Ralph Lauren Purple Label pointed to at least part of an answer.
Once you’d steered beyond the vintage car in the courtyard, the presentation was split into two sections. The first cluster of looks were garments for an idealized version of the New York Yacht Club: wearable American magic. Navy washed against white on a piped terry boating blazer worn with a bengal stripe shirt and cravat over pleated linen shorts and ankle-strapped espadrilles. A four-button (silver) navy double breasted blazer with ersatz branded club badge was commodore-level quality. Thickly woven textured silk navy short sleeve shirting and drop shoulder color block knits, or classic Ralph (via the Marylebone Cricket Club) cable-knit sweaters all added to the breezy feel.
The next section, housed in the brand’s Milan palazzo’s first-floor courtyard, was a tonal triumph. Of the maybe 25-strong cast of globally-sourced heartthrobs, around 23 wore shades running from the pale khaki of a game-pouched fishing jacket over a safari shirt and action pant to the richly-burnished, nutty brown of a distressed leather flight jacket with complementarily-strapped pilot’s watch. From the slubby silk linen windowpane check field jackets to the tailored linen takes on mid-century military shirting via the darker interjections of art-deco intarsia tuxedo jackets, these were clothes for sophisticated yet unstuffy heroes.
The jaunty cravats and woven short sleeve shirting recalled Cary Grant as John Robie The Cat; the masterful khakis were slimmed down Hemingway fare for living large on The Keys; and the flight jacket and tux were prime Pitt and Clooney material. Lauren has always said he designs cinematically: this was American luxury that evoked a reassuring, aspirational, and highly-idealized version of its homeland—and which seemed all the more desirable thanks to that vision’s current distance from reality.