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Ralph Lauren Private Sale

:: Don't miss the Ralph Lauren Private Sale, shop online starting tomorrow May 15th at RalphLauren.com

Ralph Lauren Olympics Outfits unveiled

More pictures & info on Andy's blog!

RL & The Olympics

:: Polo to Outfit U.S. Team For the Beijing Olympics

Enough With the Skinny Ties

Once every twenty-something in America started wearing them, the trend was clearly over. Enough with the skinny ties. Wide floral ties are where it's at.

:: Details: Enough With the Skinny Ties

Bow Ties

Dress Codes
If You’re Young and Not Fainthearted
By DAVID COLMAN
Published: March 13, 2008
The bow tie is back, redeemed from nerdiness.

Ralph Lauren Friends & Family Spring 2008

:: Don't miss the exclusive RalphLauren.com Friends & Family event which began today, March 11, 2008.

American Living

:: Stuart Elliot's column today on the upcoming American Living launch at JC Penney
:: AmericanLiving.com

Ralph Lauren Friends & Family

:: Update - Click here for the March 2008 F&F promo info

Ralph Lauren Private Sale

:: Don't miss the Ralph Lauren Private Sale, shop online now at RalphLauren.com!

Men in Ties, Style Times

Our dear friend David Colman brings us the latest in his column this past Saturday's Style section, Ties. Did they ever really go out? Are you sure?

:: NY Times Style - Slide Show
:: NY Times Style - Article
:: Don't miss: David's previous column from this summer, on Polo Shirts.

:: Ties at RalphLauren.com

Tom Ford

Thoughts? At least he's clothed I guess, right?

How to tie a bow tie, Rugby by Ralph Lauren

VMan

:: Latest issue of VMan now on newstands

Ralph's Fashion Moment, WWD

Who hasn't mused on what it might be like to step for a moment into that renowned, rareified world of Ralph Lauren's creation, the one depicted in those glorious Bruce Weber photographs? Nearly 500 people got the chance on Saturday night when Lauren invited them to the Conservatory Garden, a jewel of a spot way up on 105th and Fifth Avenue in Central Park -a world away from typical fashion crowd scenes.

Arriving guests walked past a pair of urns spilling over with vibrant pink hydrangeas that flanked the Vanderbilt Gate, the ironwork masterpiece that in its previous life kept the railroad magnate sequestered safely from hoi polloi curiosity while in his 58th Street manse. At Lauren's fete, no drama getting through, each guest treated like a movie star, a sip of Champagne and then into a grand white tent appointed simply in sleek black and white (albeit with a colorfully horsey Edwardian runway backdrop), where the people-watching was as delightful as the A.C. (Hey, everybody, take a lesson. This isn't Europe.) The front row shone with star wattage, but not of the typical I'll-show-for-a-free-dress actress ilk. Rather, Lauren's A-list weighed heavily toward New Yorkers important in various fields, starting with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his girlfriend Diana Taylor, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, Charlie Rose, Martha Stewart, Dustin Hoffman and his wife, Lisa, Stephen Schwarzman, Robert De Niro, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, not to mention the ultrasupportive competition - Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera, Vera Wang and Diane von Furstenberg.

In response to the invitation's request for black tie, many women turned up, not surprisingly, in black. But there was also a big showing of white with a shot of silver here or there in the crowd, which played uncannily to one of the evening's leitmotifs - the Ascot scene from "My Fair Lady," the soundtrack of which played in the background. And why not? That Anglo gentility has always featured prominently in Lauren's work, and he and Eliza Doolittle herself, Audrey Hepburn, became friends back when he designed her clothes for a PBS series on gardens. (The show-opening song, however - "Boring" by The Pierces was atypical Ralph, with lyrics that delighted the audience: "Galliano, Donatella, Dolce & Gabbana - boring.")

The party celebrated Lauren's 40th anniversary in the fashion business, and his remarkable ride from a drawer full of ties at the Beau Brummel showroom to the clout implicit in taking over six acres of Central Park for a night. It also gave ample credence to Lauren's oft-stated professional mantra: "I do what I do." At various times object of both laudation and lampoon in this most mercurial of industries, Lauren has ultimately thrived without compromise.

That focus led him to note last week: "This is also a working event. I'm doing a collection. It's not a separate party." Invariably when a designer links two such occasions he risks having the fete trump the show. But here, Lauren turned out a fabulous collection, one that strutted his signatures left, right and center without turning archival; these clothes were all about next spring. He opened with an au courant ode to Audrey - a curvy, white gown trimmed in ribbons and worn under a big hat. Out next: a dapper his-for-her look setting up a ladies-gents counterpoint that continued throughout. Impressionistic garden party gowns offered a waft of the Thirties, while slick and yellow sportswear revved up the mood. And Lauren celebrated the horsey life not only with paint-splashed jodhpurs but with vibrant silk prints that worked as well for a saucy cocktail dress as for a sleek jockey jacket. He finished with a stunner: a silver chain-beaded gown.

After the show, Lauren took a long bow, stopping to accept congratulations along the way. He was then joined by his wife, Ricky, and, as they reached the models' exit, the backdrop opened to reveal the spectacular outdoor party setting.

Then, the crowd followed the couple into the elegant garden, made only more so by hundreds of hurricane lamps, 11 chandeliers, custom Ralph Lauren linens and napkins and 10 more of those 400-pound urns filled with truckloads of pink hydrangeas.

"Is this what it's like every year?" asked Karan. "Because if so, I'm never showing again. I'm canceling my show, I've already made the call."

Indeed, no expense was spared - 700 bottles of Champagne were on hand for the crowd, which included John Mellencamp and Elaine Irwin, Clarissa and Edgar Bronfman, Bruce Weber, Robert Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Mary, and the Lauren children. Of course, Stewart stopped one waiter proffering caviar to ask, "Who did the catering?" FYI, it was Olivier Cheng.

Bloomberg, admittedly not the world's most devoted fashion follower, paid tribute to Lauren for his civic contribution to the city. "If you called central casting and said, Find me a great New Yorker, they would send Ralph Lauren," he said. "When the city needs something, Ralph Lauren is always there." Perhaps now it's time for the mayor, who did not dress in a Lauren suit, to return the favor. "I am potentially his worst client," Bloomberg said with a laugh. "I have some shoes and shirts."

There were plenty of other clotheshorses in attendance to make up for the mayor's lack. The best thing about Ralph Lauren, said Hoffman, is that "if you're short, you don't have to have anything altered. I'm telling you the truth," he said, tugging at his suit, "this is right off the rack."

Chances are that SJP's spangly Ralph Lauren frock was not, but the actress still enthused about the designer. "[Ralph] personifies classic design and has created an elegant lifestyle for people to be a part of - even if you're not really a part of it."

Both Sawyer and Walters praised him for his humility. "He rarely gives interviews, you know. He doesn't like to talk about himself," Walters explained. "But he is the American dream."

Police Commissioner Kelly agreed: "His is a classic American story. It's what this country is all about."

Maybe it was the bubbly combined with the sultry heat - or that interminably long cocktail portion before dinner, the one hiccup of the night - but superlatives did seem called for. Wang, who first met Lauren when she interviewed for a design job, was not surprised at all by the lavishness of the affair. "Ralph's life has been so successful," she said. "He's like the hedge-fund guy of fashion. He's like Google."

With Dean Martin crooning over the sound system and the garden fountain streaming high into the air, guests ascended to the terrace, lit with thousands of candles, for a supper of herbed haricots verts, New Zealand lamb and wild strawberry shortcake. "I can't believe I'm living this life," Lauren said. Yes, but if this is the manner in which he celebrates 40, how on earth will he top it at 50? "I think I'll take a rest first," he said with a smile.

Ralph Lauren Spring 2008 Fashion Show

NEW YORK, September 8, 2007 – It was a fashion spectacle to end all spectacles. To celebrate his 40th anniversary in business, Ralph Lauren staged an extraordinarily lavish runway show and black-tie after-party in the Central Park Conservatory Saturday night. And it wasn't only celebrities or moguls—everyone from Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman to Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Sawyer to Mayor Michael Bloomberg—who came out to support him. His designer peers—Vera and Carolina and Diane and Donna—did, too. Afterward, Karan joked, "I'll tell you what I'm not going to do: After that, I'm not going to have a show!"

As for the clothes, Lauren said, "I drew upon everything I ever loved, and that was it." He touched upon many of his best-known signatures, including haberdashery, equestrian themes, and Anglophilia, but this wasn't a greatest-hits collection—there's a Rizzoli book coming out next month that will cover all that. The show started in black and white: a ruffle-hemmed gown cut higher in the front to flash sexy fishnets and worn with a picture hat straight out of My Fair Lady, followed by a man's re-proportioned houndstooth jacket, waistcoat, and full-leg pants. From there, the designer worked his way through exuberantly colorful floral-print silk-georgette evening dresses and equally vibrant jockey wear. Before finishing with a red-carpet stunner in swagged silver chain and tulle, he sent out a group of taffeta dresses in bold primaries that stood out for their simplicity.

When all 72 looks had come and gone, a tuxedoed Lauren took an emotional stroll down the runway, greeting well-wishers and drawing wife Ricky to his side. The scene was accompanied by a standing ovation and Frank Sinatra's The Best Is Yet to Come. And to prove it, the painted backdrop parted to reveal a candlelit garden with tables for 400 guests. Hollywood couldn't have executed a grander, more cinematic moment.

– Nicole Phelps, Style.com

:: Backstage & Model pictures at Style.com

"Like a Henry James character, he (Lauren) is the last true idealist about America's imagination of itself," said Harold Koda, curator at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. "That makes him the greatest ambassador of American style."

:: Article from AP

Band of Outsiders : Skinny Tie

Preview - Marc Jacobs Ptown Staff

Enough already about Robert Duffy, check out the new staff at the Marc Jacobs store in Ptown.

Tom Ford, New York

:: Great article on Tom Ford in NY Mag

Ralph Lauren opens 2 Moscow Stores

:: Rendezvous in Russia: Ralph Lauren Launches First Stores in Moscow [ WWD ]

UK Topshop coming to US

Ladies, UK based Topshop is coming to the US....get ready. Also check out Topman here in NYC.

:: Topshop.co.uk

Jeffrey Fashion Cares 2007

Jeffrey Fashion Cares 2007 promises to be a fashion extravaganza you don't want to miss. The event includes a runway fashion show featuring the hottest designers and male models, cocktails, DJ, and silent and live auction of products from designers such as Prada, Gucci, Diesel, Dolce & Gabbana and more.

Hosted by Jeffrey Kalinsky and others to benefit Lambda Legal, The Hetrick Martin Institute and Gay Men's Health Crisis.

:: http://www.jeffreyfashioncares.com/