If we were in Nantucket for spring, Ralph Lauren took us to New Mexico for pre-fall. It’s a change of scenery that’s entirely welcome, the collection had a satisfying richness to its mineral colors and textures. At a preview meeting at the company’s headquarters, we learned that it took 60 hours of hand-cutting to get the varied fringe on a leather skirt and nearly as many people to machine-crochet an open-work fitted suede jacket with a burnished finish. Consider a sleeveless bronze dress for a fortune-teller look and a body-hugging ribbed knit top and a shimmery finish on a matching skirt. Other materials were sandblasted for a soft, lived-in hand feel. The silks were almost sued for touching.
As with many of the pieces, Lauren didn’t give short shrift to the tailoring foundations of her brand, which is approaching its 60th anniversary. The best look in this category was a double-breasted tweed jacket based on the designer’s own personal model, worn with full-leg cotton picks gathered at the ankles and finished with a rugged belt. Technical details added to the appeal of the outerwear. Balmakan lining in traditional wool weave with light membranes and zip-front jacket in ultra-fine silk renders them fully waterproof. The rain will be fine. A fantastic array of sculptural sterling silver cuffs and earrings, some pieces finished with raw crystal, rounded out the compelling offering.
