Latest news with #TheModernRomantics
The Star
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Big pants, bold statements: Does fashion turn to drama in uncertain times?
A model presents a creation from the Autumn/Winter 2025 Ralph Lauren collection in New York City. Take note of the voluminous pants. Photo: Reuters President Donald Trump is not the only one with the last Gilded Age on his mind. Last week, Ralph Lauren held his Autumn/Winter 2025 fashion show in the bank hall of the Clock Tower Building in lower Manhattan, an Italian Renaissance revival edifice that opened in 1898 as the home of New York Life Insurance Co, complete with marble Corinthian columns, a 29-foot coffered ceiling, an ornate staircase and its own vault. The setting was a departure from Lauren's recent trend of re-creating his own environments as the backdrops of his collections. He has brought guests out to Ralph Hampton, his fantasy of Long Island; opened up his Madison Avenue headquarters; and re-created his Colorado ranch at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. But given the tenor of the time, his latest show venue felt pretty apropos. Actor Anne Hathaway was there, in a beige trenchcoat and bedazzled beige denim. So were singer Kacey Musgraves, in a white tank top and cowboy hat; actor Ariana DeBose, in pinstripes; and The White Lotus ingenue Sarah Catherine Hook, in a necktie. Read more: Want to look fashionable – and ultra rich? Dress in cream, beige or off-white What was not there, however: corsets. Or bustles (that was good news). Instead, Lauren offered a parade of pants – and not just any old pants, but big pants. Pants that were almost always pleated and that billowed around the legs. Pants in leather and wool. Pants that were almost… pantaloons, which sometimes were tucked into knee-high boots so they puffed out around the thighs and sometimes truncated into knickerbockers so they only looked like they were tucked into the boots. With the pants he showed a lot of lacy jabots and ruffled white shirts, frothing at the neck. Also, beat-up leathers and the occasional slinky backless halter dress, almost always complete with its own jabot. Everything was in black and white or camel and brown, with the occasional flash of amethyst glittering in the light. Lauren called the show 'The Modern Romantics'. But its references seemed to be his own work from around the last turn of the century (especially the go-go Wall Street era when he built his empire) with, perhaps, a nod to the 'dandy' theme of the upcoming Met Gala, that celebration of fashion and financial excess, mixed in. Ralph Lauren greets the audience at the end of his runway show. Photo: AP And all of it was made more interesting by the tensions – between masculine and feminine, hard and soft – running like threads through the looks. The effect was less escapist than is often the case with Lauren's cinematic productions and more pointed. It seemed to say, forget the hemline index – that folky 'economic indicator' suggesting that skirts go up when things are good and come down when things turn bad – and instead consider the big pants gauge. This hinges on the idea that when things get unpredictable, when you feel like you are teetering on the edge of the volcano, a lot of material around the legs may be exactly what everyone wants to wear. Read more: Is 'quiet luxury' dead? New York Fashion Week roars with bold street styles Well, it is a form of protective covering. Why not also a bellwether? At the end of the show, Lauren materialised on the grand hall's mezzanine, wearing a black longhorn sweater. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was sitting next to Lauren's wife, Ricky, craned her neck upward and snapped photos on her smartphone as her fellow guests applauded and Lauren waved to the audience spread out below – lord, for the moment, of all he surveyed. – ©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Observer
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Ralph Lauren Introduces the Big Pants Index
President Donald Trump is not the only one with the last Gilded Age on his mind. On Thursday, Ralph Lauren held his fall 2025 fashion show in the bank hall of the Clock Tower Building in lower Manhattan, an Italian Renaissance revival edifice that opened in 1898 as the home of New York Life Insurance Co., complete with marble Corinthian columns, a 29-foot coffered ceiling, an ornate staircase and its own vault. The setting was a departure from Lauren's recent trend of re-creating his own environments as the backdrops of his collections: He has brought guests out to Ralph Hampton, his fantasy of Long Island; opened up his Madison Avenue headquarters; and re-created his Colorado ranch at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. But given the tenor of the time, his latest show venue felt pretty apropos. Actor Anne Hathaway was there, in a beige trenchcoat and bedazzled beige denim. So were singer Kacey Musgraves, in a white tank top and cowboy hat; actor Ariana DeBose, in pinstripes; and 'The White Lotus' ingenue Sarah Catherine Hook, in a necktie. What was not there, however: corsets. Or bustles. (That was good news.) Instead, Lauren offered a parade of pants — and not just any old pants, but big pants. Pants that were almost always pleated and that billowed around the legs. Pants in leather and wool. Pants that were almost ... pantaloons, which sometimes were tucked into knee-high boots so they puffed out around the thighs and sometimes truncated into knickerbockers so they only looked like they were tucked into the boots. With the pants he showed a lot of lacy jabots and ruffled white shirts, frothing at the neck. Also beat-up leathers and the occasional slinky backless halter dress, almost always complete with its own jabot. Everything was in black and white or camel and brown, with the occasional flash of amethyst glittering in the light. Lauren called the show 'The Modern Romantics.' But its references seemed to be his own work from around the last turn of the century (especially the go-go Wall Street era when he built his empire) with, perhaps, a nod to the 'dandy' theme of the upcoming Met Gala, that celebration of fashion and financial excess, mixed in. And all of it was made more interesting by the tensions — between masculine and feminine, hard and soft — running like threads through the looks. The effect was less escapist than is often the case with Lauren's cinematic productions and more pointed. It seemed to say, forget the hemline index — that folky 'economic indicator' suggesting that skirts go up when things are good and come down when things turn bad — and instead consider the big pants gauge: the idea that when things get unpredictable, when you feel like you are teetering on the edge of the volcano, a lot of material around the legs may be exactly what everyone wants to wear. Well, it is a form of protective covering. Why not also a bellwether? At the end of the show, Lauren materialized on the grand hall's mezzanine, wearing a black longhorn sweater. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who was sitting next to Lauren's wife, Ricky, craned her neck upward and snapped photos on her smartphone as her fellow guests applauded and Lauren waved to the audience spread out below — lord, for the moment, of all he surveyed. —NYT
Gulf Today
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Ralph Lauren stays closer to home this time with Manhattan gallery show
Ralph Lauren, known for staging elaborate runway shows in sumptuous settings like the horsey Hamptons or amid his vintage car collection, took it down a notch for a more intimate show on Thursday in a Manhattan gallery space. As celebrities like Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ariana DeBose and many others watched from the front row, Lauren presented a fall collection dubbed 'The Modern Romantics,' heavy on high ruffled necks, classics like buttery leather in everything from aviator jackets to bustiers, and soft cashmere. Evening looks were long and lacy. Lauren's models first appeared atop a balcony, then each descended a grand staircase to walk the runway. The venue, now the Jack Shainman Gallery, was built in 1898 in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. For the New York-based crowd, it was much less of a journey than Lauren's last show in the Hamptons on Long Island, which took some guests four hours from Manhattan in busy traffic. Lauren himself appeared at the end of the show to wave - from the top of the balcony. Lauren said he was celebrating 'The Modern Romantics,' an aesthetic he described as 'self-assured and unbound by rules.' Models present creations from the Ralph Lauren collection in New York City, US, on Thursday. Photos: Agencies Strutting the runway, the models displayed looks that began with a classic Lauren combination of black trousers, a high-necked ruffled white shirt, and an aviator jacket in brown distressed leather. That was followed by a filmy white midi-dress paired with a thick black leather belt, and tall black leather boots. A black leather bustier was paired with a long camel wool skirt, and white lacy ruffled shirts popped up in different ensembles - with a long camel coat, or a puffy brown cardigan. There were also white lace neckties. There were velvet jackets, including in a deep shade of purple. Outfits segued into evening with long, silky or strappy gowns, one in a white crochet theme, another in sumptuous black lace. There was a black halter gown in tiers of ruffles spiraling around the body. Hathaway, Williams and Watts sat together in the front row, each in a Lauren-style trench or wrap coat. Hathaway, her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, paired her coat with a pair of tan-colored jeans, embroidered with sequins and strategically shredded. DeBose wore a smart gray suit that would go perfectly with next month's Met Gala dress code: 'Tailored For You.' Louis-Dreyfus wore a cropped leather jacket in light brown, with white trousers. Also attending were Sadie Sink, Sarah Catherine Hook, Eiza Gonzalez, Andra Day, Kacey Musgraves and Ella Hunt, among others. 'I thought it was very much his sensibility and what he believes,' Anna Wintour, the influential Vogue editor, said after the show, noting that Lauren's fashion transcended trends. 'He's a designer that never looks to the left or to the right. He's just very clear in what he wants to say and what his customer wants, and that's one of the reasons he's so unbelievably successful.' Associated Press
CNN
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams among A-listers at Ralph Lauren show
In the borderlands between New York City's Tribeca and Financial District, Ralph Lauren — the man whose name is synonymous with a certain well-heeled, sporty, and nostalgic vein of American style — staged his latest runway show on Thursday. Among the crowd were Anne Hathaway, Condé Nast's Anna Wintour, 'Stranger Things' star Sadie Sink, and Sarah Catherine Hook, riding high off her turn in the recently concluded 'The White Lotus,' season 3. (Hook was overheard saying that the first thing her character, Piper Ratliff, wears in the show is, as it happens, a Ralph Lauren dress.) Actors Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michelle Williams, Naomi Watts, Ariana Debose, and Eiza Gonzalez were also in attendance. Lauren's chosen venue — Jack Shainman Gallery — echoed golden age Gotham, with its marble columns, towering windows, and coffered ceilings. Here, Lauren's fall 2025 womenswear designs glimmered with the spirit of family heirlooms in the making: a collection meant to last the ages and, importantly, to appeal to all ages. Speaking to CNN ahead of the show, Lauren explained that the collection, titled 'The Modern Romantics', was 'a celebration of individual style and timeless sophistication,' with 'each piece reflect(ing) the confidence of a woman who defines style on her own terms.' The result was a mash-up of Ralph Lauren signatures that felt broodier, a little more bohemian, and, in that, perhaps a touch more eclectic. See the Victorian or Edwardian collars beneath barn jackets, outerwear that juxtaposed finished leather and brushed suede (these were excellent), leather bustiers styled with riding boots, and frilly dresses with dark floral prints (instead of Lauren's usual palette of off-white, cream and equine brown). The finale gown with a mermaid tail bonded by lace insets marked one of the most experimental looks the designer has shown in recent memory. While Ralph Lauren's sales rose 11 per cent in the three months ending December 28, 2024 to $2.1 billion, prompting the company to raise the outlook for its 2025 full-year fiscal revenue, no brand is immune to the world's mounting geopolitical challenges. The luxury sector is grappling with some of its slowest growth in years, as well as US President Trump's quickly evolving tariff plans, which threaten to drive up clothing prices. Over a phone call with CNN a few days before the show, Patrice Louvet, CEO and president of Ralph Lauren Corporation, acknowledged the 'relatively volatile' environment. Emphasizing Ralph Lauren's resilience, he noted that throughout 2024 the brand 'saw strong responses across generations.' Louvet has been focused on maintaining a constant presence in customers' lives by translating the well-developed Ralph Lauren ethos — one of good-life Americana — into experiences that can be enjoyed by a greater number of people. Younger age groups, he noted, are a focus. Ralph's Coffee, which has outposts in over 35 locations including New York, London, Beijing, Doha and Tokyo, reaches 4 million people a year, according to Louvet. 'The population that's consuming Ralph's is disproportionately younger consumers,' he added. These patrons are likely drawn by the cafés' Instagram-friendly feel, with its preppy green-striped branding and playful merchandise, including oversized stuffed animal Polo bears in situ, which make for great pictures. Sports have also been key in broadening Ralph Lauren's cultural relevance. The brand regularly invests in sponsorships and partnerships that range from baseball activations in Japan to support for tennis and golf via the US Open, Wimbledon and the Ryder Cup. It will also be a title sponsor at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy, as it was at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, France. 'We're making sure we engage with the younger generation while continuing to delight and surprise our 30-year-olds, our 50-year-olds, our 80-year-olds,' said Louvet. 'It's one of the challenges (we constantly pose) to our marketing team.' Consistency is key, he believes. '(Other brands) kind of have moments, and then (they) go quiet. And then there's another moment, a show, or something with an influencer, and then it's quiet again,' said Louvet. 'Our philosophy is 'no, we have to always be on.''
CNN
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams among A-listers at Ralph Lauren show
In the borderlands between New York City's Tribeca and Financial District, Ralph Lauren — the man whose name is synonymous with a certain well-heeled, sporty, and nostalgic vein of American style — staged his latest runway show on Thursday. Among the crowd were Anne Hathaway, Condé Nast's Anna Wintour, 'Stranger Things' star Sadie Sink, and Sarah Catherine Hook, riding high off her turn in the recently concluded 'The White Lotus,' season 3. (Hook was overheard saying that the first thing her character, Piper Ratliff, wears in the show is, as it happens, a Ralph Lauren dress.) Actors Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michelle Williams, Naomi Watts, Ariana Debose, and Eiza Gonzalez were also in attendance. Lauren's chosen venue — Jack Shainman Gallery — echoed golden age Gotham, with its marble columns, towering windows, and coffered ceilings. Here, Lauren's fall 2025 womenswear designs glimmered with the spirit of family heirlooms in the making: a collection meant to last the ages and, importantly, to appeal to all ages. Speaking to CNN ahead of the show, Lauren explained that the collection, titled 'The Modern Romantics', was 'a celebration of individual style and timeless sophistication,' with 'each piece reflect(ing) the confidence of a woman who defines style on her own terms.' The result was a mash-up of Ralph Lauren signatures that felt broodier, a little more bohemian, and, in that, perhaps a touch more eclectic. See the Victorian or Edwardian collars beneath barn jackets, outerwear that juxtaposed finished leather and brushed suede (these were excellent), leather bustiers styled with riding boots, and frilly dresses with dark floral prints (instead of Lauren's usual palette of off-white, cream and equine brown). The finale gown with a mermaid tail bonded by lace insets marked one of the most experimental looks the designer has shown in recent memory. While Ralph Lauren's sales rose 11 per cent in the three months ending December 28, 2024 to $2.1 billion, prompting the company to raise the outlook for its 2025 full-year fiscal revenue, no brand is immune to the world's mounting geopolitical challenges. The luxury sector is grappling with some of its slowest growth in years, as well as US President Trump's quickly evolving tariff plans, which threaten to drive up clothing prices. Over a phone call with CNN a few days before the show, Patrice Louvet, CEO and president of Ralph Lauren Corporation, acknowledged the 'relatively volatile' environment. Emphasizing Ralph Lauren's resilience, he noted that throughout 2024 the brand 'saw strong responses across generations.' Louvet has been focused on maintaining a constant presence in customers' lives by translating the well-developed Ralph Lauren ethos — one of good-life Americana — into experiences that can be enjoyed by a greater number of people. Younger age groups, he noted, are a focus. Ralph's Coffee, which has outposts in over 35 locations including New York, London, Beijing, Doha and Tokyo, reaches 4 million people a year, according to Louvet. 'The population that's consuming Ralph's is disproportionately younger consumers,' he added. These patrons are likely drawn by the cafés' Instagram-friendly feel, with its preppy green-striped branding and playful merchandise, including oversized stuffed animal Polo bears in situ, which make for great pictures. Sports have also been key in broadening Ralph Lauren's cultural relevance. The brand regularly invests in sponsorships and partnerships that range from baseball activations in Japan to support for tennis and golf via the US Open, Wimbledon and the Ryder Cup. It will also be a title sponsor at the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy, as it was at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, France. 'We're making sure we engage with the younger generation while continuing to delight and surprise our 30-year-olds, our 50-year-olds, our 80-year-olds,' said Louvet. 'It's one of the challenges (we constantly pose) to our marketing team.' Consistency is key, he believes. '(Other brands) kind of have moments, and then (they) go quiet. And then there's another moment, a show, or something with an influencer, and then it's quiet again,' said Louvet. 'Our philosophy is 'no, we have to always be on.''
