Its blockbuster inaugural exhibition of new work by Nick Cave having recently closed, the new Jack Shainman Gallery on Lafayette Street in TriBeCa played host to Ralph Lauren’s fall show today. Outside, a crowd of curious onlookers were gathered to catch glimpses of Anne Hathaway, Naomi Watts, and Michelle Williams. Inside, guests were impressed by the Beaux Art splendor of the former headquarters of the New York Life Insurancy building, its 29-foot-high molded coffered ceiling in particular.
The setting was picture perfect for Lauren’s new collection. The dandy’s jabot-necked white shirt, often punctuated with a jeweled brooch, was the star of the show, spilling out a black sweater tucked into pleated pants or worn underneath single-breasted evening coats and riding jackets. A black lace jabot decorated a rather sensational ivory panné velvet halter dress, which also featured a dramatic back detail.
Because of Lauren’s preference for off-schedule shows, they’re treated like events. In the Hamptons last September, for example, we saw not just his signature line, but Purple Label and Polo Ralph Lauren, too—on men, women, and kids. Though he was talking about tensions and dichotomies in his notes today—“plays of masculine-and-feminine and rugged-and-refined”—this was a single message collection with a clear point of view and more persuasive for it. He called it “the Modern Romantics.”
Romantic frills are very much in the air at the moment. For Lauren, though, it’s a return to form. His 1980s and ’90s advertisements have become frequent sights on young designers’ mood boards, and he made a compelling case for quoting himself, without edging into nostalgia. It’s a safe bet that more than one young woman left thinking afresh about velvet jackets and soft Victorian blouses and how right they can look together. Others may be tempted to tuck their full-legged pants into knee-high stacked heel boots.
For evening, Lauren often amps up the glam—on more than one occasion the dress code at his show has called for black tie (for guests, that is). Here, he swapped beads and sequins for bohemian tiers of ruffles and belted jackets over pleated chiffon maxi skirts. The belted off-white taffeta shirtdress with insets of lace that Mona Tougaard wore at the close of the show looked like it would suit Kacey Musgraves, who was also front row in a ten gallon hat and tank top.
A sequined sweater with a beaded floral detail worn with black trousers was an entirely different idea for a special night out. The notes specified that it was a riff on something worn by the model Clotilde Holby in an ’80s Lauren campaign. Google her name and it pops right up—the sweetest of refrains.