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Ralph Lauren in Milan: He Came, He Saw, He Conquered
By: Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
Milan, Jun 18, 2002/FWD/ --- Three decades after last staging a men's runway show, Ralph Lauren
presented his upmarket Purple Label collection to a select audience of editors and critics in
Milan Wednesday, taking his concept to the world's capital of men's wear.
And the big news was, it was a big, fat hit.
The presentation was, as Tony Blair would say, "on message," meaning Ralph presented an
essentially timeless sense of elegance, carefully styled and updated to give it just the right
amount of modern twist.
The house invited barely 100 people to the two shows, staged in Lauren's European headquarters,
a superb 1936 villa and prime example of Italian rationalist architecture.
It has been carefully renovated in the grand Ralph style with equestrian prints, velvet
curtains, tartan throws and the inevitable portrait of the designer in a blazer on the
mantelpiece over the fireplace.
"It was very important for me to come to Europe because I wanted to make a statement about
men's wear and fashion with this label."
"It's a very pulled-together look, which is all about
quality, luxury and elegance," Ralph told FWD at a breakfast presentation prior to the show.
Like all great designers, Ralph has an acute sense of timing. The launch of the Euro on
January 1 will ultimately unite the European market, representing a golden opportunity for
American brands to grow here.
The show opened with some classy suits in a trim silhouette, though cut with a broad yet
relatively soft shoulder.
They will find a faithful audience in Europe, which like America is experiencing a reaction
against over-casual dressing.
Though sophisticated, the clothes weren't stiff, helped by the use of windowpane checks and
charcoal stripes.
Ironically for a man who broke into fashion by selling four-inch-wide ties in the '60s when
everyone else was retailing thin ones, Ralph stuck with narrow ties in this show.
Standouts included Alpine-style sweaters, snug knits and cashmere shawl-collar robes.
Lauren earned a burst of applause with a wonderful long black coat with monumental collar,
and deserved another for an excellent black padded leather motorcycle jacket.
The designer took his bow attired in a similar jacket in brown aged leather, jeans and a
half-century-old Panerai watch that looked like it weighed a kilo.
Most of the Americans in the audience, and a handful of Europeans, rose to their feet clapping
heartily.
"It's so heavy I could use it to work with, but it was giving me a pain in the shoulder,"
Lauren joked about the Panerai diving timepiece.
Staged several hours after Giorgio Armani presented his Emporio collection, the show was an
interesting contrast in style between the two reigning heavyweights on the designer planet.
While Armani has certainly been a more influential designer, when it comes to commercial clout,
no one touches Ralph.
His publicly quoted company racked up $2 billion in sales last year, and Ralph estimates that
the retail of all products bearing his name now approaches $10 billion.
"There are people who say that American designers are just marketers who sell blue jeans and
not true designers. I've even read that in magazines."
But I came here to Milan because I wanted
to make a statement in Milan about clothes and elegance. There's an audience out there for
what I do, and I believe I have something to say," argued Lauren.
You do Ralph, and on Wednesday in Milan, you certainly did.
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