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Ralph Lauren Loosens Up for New Italian Flagship
By Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
MILAN, Jan 17, 2003 /FWD/ --- It began as a bridgehead but now looks like an important new colony.
Ralph Lauren's European conquest gained even more momentum Wednesday night in Milan when he
staged an unprecedented tripleheader of his three men's lines - Polo, Double RL and Purple
Label.
The joint billing was both a celebration and savvy marketing ploy heralding the opening of
his first store in Italy.
As first reported in FWD, Lauren will open a major flagship at 4 via Montenapoleone,
the eastern end of Europe's most valuable retail real estate.
Lauren, the founding father of American lifestyle market, kept the show tight, focused and
crammed full of some great looks, in the snappy show at his European headquarters in Milan,
a mere eight looks in both Polo and Double RL and one score in Purple Label.
Oddly, the show got off to a slow start with the modish New England preppie looks of neat
Chesterfields, tennis sweaters and Oxford shirts where, in a gesture to Italian male
traditions, the models wore no socks.
Now, while it's true many Romans do skip socks when wearing loafers, not even in Bari do
they wear wingtips without hosiery.
But as Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" boomed out in the wood paneled room, the show
suddenly soared with a brilliant melange of Double RL's vintage looks, in the line's
first catwalk appearance in 10 years.
Aged velvet frock coats with pinstripe pants, or white pirate shirts, herringbone denim
pants with navy velvet frock coats, naval cadet peacoats with a battered and worn leather
satchel.
As the mood heightened, Lauren played his trump cards in the Purple Label section, opening
with impeccable eight-button suits of narrow pants, nipped waistline and broad shoulders.
Dandies yes, but dignified too.
Ralph's long-standing obsession with tweed found expression in some spot-on windowpane
check suits and jackets, the best of which was shown with matching shirt and tie.
Not all the leathers worked, especially the padded biker jackets and bulking shearling,
which were just that shade too fussy.
But they were an exception in a collection where the sense of restraint was admirable,
especially in the details - like the poche de cavalier and minimal gold shoulder insignia.
"As we are opening a major store here, I thought we had to show our full range. Plus, it was
time to see Polo presented in a fun way," said Lauren, dressed in a slim black cashmere
polo neck, green cords, military belt and black leather Jordan sneakers.
"We still have to see whether we retail Double RL here," he added.
Seems an easy answer to us: Italians should dig the tattered elegance and authenticity of
that collection.
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