Last week's lecture on clothing creation sparked a discussion on various styles which soon took a rather bizarre turn. The reason? Men's clothing. Female fans of Chanel share their views on what can be considered 'traditional menswear'. Hilarity and inanity ensued, forcing the lecturer to cut the chatter and ask a simple, precise question:
"What single well-known brand do you consider to be the most traditional, then?"
"Ralph Lauren", I replied, breaking the silence.
A voice from behind me said: "Nah, it's mostly sportswear." I lost my composure.
Behold, examples of sportswear abound:
Either by 'sportswear' the girl meant classy englishmen riding around the park on old-fashioned bicycles with the huge front wheels or simply taking a stroll with a walking stick ('Why hello there, chaps! Nice weather we are having today!'), or something is wrong. Very, very wrong.
When it comes to classic styling, I doubt if any other high fashion brand can compete with Ralph Lauren Purple Label or Polo RL. Sure, the lapels are a little on the slim side, the jackets themselves a little short. However I am sure you will agree that these examples are worlds apart from designs proposed by D&G, Prada, Gucci and similar big names of the fashion world, for basically the same price - which is, as always, quite insane if you go full retail. Although that is a different matter altogether.
Photoes taken from the Ralph Lauren FW2010 menswear coverage at style.com. Feel free to click and be amazed.
i agree with you, ralph lauren is definitely traditional. it's pretty conservative and traditional, i think. not that i'm very up-to-date with fashion usually, but it's one of the names i think of when i hear those descriptions.
ReplyDeletethey do have more sporty looks as well, but it's not the majority, by far. it's not what they stand for...