Ralph Lauren's 50th anniversary show stars turn out for legendary Polo creator

Manhattan's Central Park became the stage for a star-studded fashion gala last Friday as iconic fashion designer Ralph Lauren commemorated his company's 50th anniversary.

For the first time Lauren shared his complete cinematic collections in one event — women's collection, men's Double RL, and men's, women's and children's Polo Ralph Lauren — to celebrate the character and beauty of the themes that have inspired him for half a century.

While the Ralph Lauren Collection and Double RL presented day and evening wear in bohemian and eclectic style, the women's collection highlighted modern suits, velvet gowns and knits infused with artisanal patchworks and beading.

A mix of utilitarian workwear and traditional tailoring, Double RL menswear featured well-worn denim, British tweeds, hand-knit sweaters and leathers that evoked a feeling of being lived-in and well-traveled.

The Polo collection comes with a symbolic preppy look, combining Ivy League classics and English haberdashery with downtown styles and all-American cool sportiness.

Earth tones prevailed on the runway and celebrities in the audience of approximately 200 guests. They included Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg, Robert De Niro and fellow designers Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. After the parade of models and clothes, the guests were treated to steak from Lauren's ranch in Colorado.

"For my 50th anniversary, I wanted to create and share a runway experience that was deeply personal and a summation of the style I've always believed in: personal, authentic, and forever, in a place so quintessentially New York and so special to me — Central Park," said Lauren, who's from the Bronx.

The collection, downtown but sophisticated, displayed a mix of collected ways of wearing clothes. It is a "museum-type" showing and a sort of sensibility that the world is in right now, Lauren said.

"The message is to show you a little of the sensibility of what made Ralph Lauren strong," he said in an interview with China Daily in his office before the show. "And sort of a review of the company and where it has been, and it's strong and well and going forward."

The designer who has defined American style for so many years said he designs for women "who have good taste''.

"And I'm showing them how to mix it up, and how to be current even with the clothes that don't have to be this year's, it could be next year's, it could be yesterday's, but how to stay current in a time — how things last through the times," he said.

Lauren built his business from a tie. In 1967, 28-year-old Lauren persuaded the president of tie manufacturer Beau Brummell to let him start his own line. He started with making only neckties, packed them himself and sold them himself. "And people liked it. And some people wanted to change it, said my tie was too wide; and I said no, and I left and they came back," he recalled.

The next year, Lauren, who is interested in sports, named his first full line of menswear Polo. He worked out of a single drawer in a showroom in the Empire State Building and made deliveries to stores himself.

By 1969, Bloomingdale's exclusively sold Lauren's men line, the first time the Manhattan department store had given a designer his own in-store shop. In 1971, Lauren introduced the Polo player emblem with a line of tailored shirts for women and opened the first freestanding store for an American designer in Beverly Hills, California.

In 1974, Lauren outfitted the men in The Great Gatsby film in clothes from his Polo line, a 1920s-style series of men's suits and sweaters. He made a pink suit for Robert Redford's Jay Gatsby. It was the first movie where men's clothes were used to show the main role's character.

The signature cotton Polo shirt was introduced in 1977, featuring the polo player logo on the chest.

With the iconic brand of Polo, he built that sensibility of menswear. And each brand was built with a point of view: Purple label is more sophisticated and more higher-quality; double RL is young and ritual. "I see them as movies you will like. They all have stories," said the prolific designer.

The sensibility of life and brand building just doesn't come from midair, he said.

"It comes from passion, comes from understanding and believing who you are, and staying consistent in your voice. I like the ability to do different things, but to stay consistent as to who I am, so when you see the clothes, you say, 'Ah, that must be Ralph Lauren.' And so I think I've achieved that."

Lauren said consumers' tastes have in some ways changed, but he is confident that he knows what the customer wants.

"Every woman has a different style and different taste. But I think I've consistently had a point of view, and I think I have continued to build younger customers and old customers."

He thinks men are more conservative and want consistency, and women want change.

"In many ways, men's style doesn't change much, but women's dramatically changes," he said, adding that he has had lots of opportunities to learn, experiment and make mistakes, and it has worked.

Lauren believes it is very important and very hard to stay current and still have an identity. Sometimes people go with the trend and the trend loves them, and then suddenly the trend is over and gone, he said.

The Ralph Lauren Corporation, he said, has displayed a solid sensibility and consistent growth in the world of fashion, adding, "I think you still have to build every year as a new year, every season as a new season."

Lauren said that his company has stayed current by building new brands that are always changing. And he wants his brands to stay timeless:

"When we talk about classic, that sounds boring. Timeless is how to stay exciting and interesting, because it's not about just staying around. It's going forward and change. The constant changes over the years that have made the company stay there and grow, and at times we see it a little bit when it goes forward. It's a whole life; it's a whole world."

Lauren said it's nice to be labeled an American icon, but as founder of his company, he continues to work hard to build concepts and dreams and to develop teams, "so then the next 50 years should be very exciting".

"I think going forward I feel that if we could do what we did the first time around, keep growing, I think we're going to be very strong," he said.

Contact the writer at wanglinyan@chinadaily.com.cn