Hot and Covered...RRL—Autumn/Winter 2011 Lookbook

RRL
Autumn/Winter 2011
Lookbook.

RRL

Ralph and Ricky Lauren

Text by Pete Anderson

I used to lay awake at night and wonder what RRL stood for. Rocknroll Ralph Lauren? Rad-as-hell Ralph Lauren? That's what RRL clothes look like. Western and military gear panned like gold dust from the great river of menswear history. I've been told by people who ought to know that RRL is, in fact, Ralph and Ricky Lauren, but I've also been told Rodeo Ralph Lauren. Or maybe it was Ranch Ralph Lauren. It doesn't really matter if it's Rick Ross Lauren, I just trust that when I see "RRL" branded onto a genuine leather patch, that the patch will be sewn on some of the finest jeans in the world.

RRL has been a pet project for Ralph Lauren since the 1990s, when the brand began putting out vintage-inspired pieces like covert twill work jackets with buckle backs and collegiate style cardigans complete with chenille patches. This was a risky move in the days of wide-leg jeans and "the Regis look." Ralph was better known for selling aspirationally priced, primary colored basics with embroidered ponies. But RRL's aesthetic has stayed true, and eventually most of us all came back around to the Hollywood cowpoke look RRL was putting out there. One wash jeans with narrow hems that complement boots more than tennis shoes. Ideal henley shirts and beat-up button ups in chambray and flannel. Everything comfortable and well-washed (except the denim, of course).

The truth is that Mr. Lauren may sell a lot of polo shirts, but he is also one of the world's most avid collectors of vintage Americana (and clothing from all over the globe). The vast, Raiders-of-the-Lost-Ark-warehouse-sized collection of the Ralph Lauren company is inspiration for the RRL line, which today sought after in Japan, Europe, and the US. These days I sleep well and dream of dusty warehouses filled with ridiculous vintage finds.

— Autumn/Winter 2011

RRL

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“Early 20th Century
American Alerts!”



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