Harking back to the wild, wild West, twined with sleekly authoritarian sartorial engineering, Ralph Lauren present the American dream.

God’s Vessel

Ralph Lauren’s AW15 show was evidently a success, given an (apparently) holy seal of approval as Kanye West met the designer’s latest offering with, of course, a selfie request. The rapper, who approached silver-fox Lauren as he greeted guests of the show, once described himself as ‘God’s vessel’, stating that the greatest pain in his life was that he would ‘never be able to see (him)self perform live’. Clearly, a selfie with the king of home-grown American fashion makes up for this tragedy somewhat. In all fairness, you can’t help being in awe of a designer who’s style success has been so monumentally consistent, not to mention the fact that his net worth is estimated to be around the $7bn mark. Now that’s something everyone, including the business savvy Kanye, can respect.

Faking it

Ralph sure knows how it fake it, and the label’s long-standing commitment to not using fur products proves that you don’t have to be cruel to look cool (and stay warm). The furry stuff appeared throughout the show, in the form of jackets, trapper hats, cuffs, shrugs and collars. Ralph proved, at a time when New York is experiencing record-breakingly low temperatures, that you don’t have to look like the Michelin man to stave off frost bite. Layering was the order of the day, with cashmere turtle necks worn under feathered gilets and suede skinnies paired with long-line shearling coats and cow-girlesque boots. Colour was minimal, primarily muted and tonal variations on a theme – beiges, browns, taupes and creams made interesting by details such as metal eyelets and tasseling.

The All American Dream

All of this hearkening back to the wild, wild West was tempered by some sleekly authoritarian sartorial engineering, with three-piece Al-Capone-ready pinstriped suits complete with double Albert watch chains and ruffled collars. In terms of evening wear, silhouettes were chicly simple, and where sparkle was minimal it was more than made up for by sumptuous velvet and lace, and some strategically positioned aforementioned fur cuffs that cast the looks into the realms of extravagance. Fur on flesh. Sexy. Perhaps Jane would have been slightly less calamitous had she taken a leaf out of Ralph’s book.

Words: Florence Trott

Photo Credit: shootdigital