SAN MARINO, Calif. — In the world of fashion, few names remember the legacy as strongly as Ralph Lauren.
But for the designer himself, who launched his namesake brand in 1967, legacy isn’t the most important thing. The most important thing, he says, is work.
“I don’t think about legacies,” Lauren, 83, tells USA TODAY at a dinner after her brand’s first Southern California show at the lush Huntington Library, Museum of Art and Botanical Gardens in San Marino on Thursday night. the night. “I don’t really know what legacies are. I go in there and I work really hard to build excitement and enjoy what I’m doing and be cool and not be boring.”
Lauren adds that her company wants to “stretch as far” as possible.
“That’s what I believe in,” he says. “And to have a hit that I feel like everyone loves and there’s excitement, that’s a great thrill.”
That excitement was palpable at the World of Ralph Lauren Fashion experience, where runway models flaunted the brand’s signature American style for a star-studded crowd that included Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, Laura Dern, Mila Kunis , Ashton Kutcher, Chris Pine. , Mindy Kaling, John Legend and more.
In addition to rugged cowboy hats and denim, the show also featured plenty of bright jackets and rainbow pieces from Ralph Lauren’s Spring 2023 collection, a variety of styles that the designer’s son, David Lauren, says reflects current American culture.
“The brand always draws on its 50-year history to look more modern but stay rooted in the classics,” he says. “We have all kinds of reflections of what American culture is today and how Americans can be ambassadors of global culture.”
Covers of patriotic songs like John Stewart’s “Gold,” Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” and The Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin'” played as the models walked the runway. As the show progressed, rugged jeans gave way to stylish country club goers before diving into an adorable children’s collection, modeled by toddlers walking hand-in-hand with adult models.
At one point, Neil Diamond’s “I Am…I Said” played, a song David Lauren says speaks to Ralph Lauren’s own journey of bringing his show to California as a Bronx native.
“It’s about being born and raised in New York City and then coming west and seeing where you belong,” he says. “This is another slice of America for Ralph Lauren that he’s able to capture in his dream, the American dream, and I think he brings it to life beautifully.”
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Upon arrival, the stars reminisced about their first interactions with the Ralph Lauren brand and what the company means to them.
“Emily in Paris” star Lily Collins remembers seeing Ralph Lauren print ads as a child and ripping them out to put on inspiration boards.
Those inspiration boards seem to have paid off: Collins wore a Ralph Lauren wedding dress to her wedding to Charlie McDowell last year.
“He’s just an American icon,” Collins says of Lauren. “I’m half British and half American, so I feel like there’s an ownership of that American side of me that is represented in Ralph’s collections and who he and his family are.”
Cole Sprouse recalls his shocked reaction to a Double RL store he found as a student in Brooklyn, New York. The “Riverdale” star took classes at New York University from 2011 to 2015.
“I walked past a Double RL store and was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I really want to get in here. I really want to check it out,'” he says. “And then I said, ‘This is unbelievably expensive. I have to get out of here.'”
Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher chat with Ralph Lauren at dinner after the show
After the show, attendees enjoyed a candlelit outdoor dinner on the Huntington grounds.
Celebrities, influencers and fashion professionals mingled as they ate one of three entrée options: a Polo Bar burger, veggie burger or grilled branzino. The cocktail menu featured an RL Royale, made with Gray Goose vodka; an old-fashioned; a ridgway daisy; and a non-alcoholic garden spray, made with ginger, mint, cucumber, lime and sparkling water.
Waiters lined up to serve and remove each dish in sync, adding a touch of elegance to the whole affair.
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Legend sat across from Kunis and Kutcher, and the trio chatted animatedly throughout the night. Chastain spoke quietly to her husband Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo at the end of a table, and Sylvester Stallone sat next to his wife Jennifer Flavin and her daughters Sistine and Sophia Stallone.
The man of the moment, however, was Ralph Lauren. Kaling politely waited for the designer to finish a conversation before eagerly introducing himself. Later, when Legend moved away from her seat, Lauren took it and struck up a conversation with Kunis, Kutcher and Lauren Bush, who sat to her right.
When asked if she would offer advice to her younger self, Lauren smirks.
“No, I like it,” he says. “He was a nice guy. Handsome too.”
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Source: www.usatoday.com