There’s much to be said for fashion’s ability to tell stories. On Wednesday, Ralph Lauren spun a beauty, a tale of nomadic meanderings through the proverbial, non-specific realm of far away. That lack of geographic definition imbued the collection with a dreamlike feel, especially by night. You didn’t want to wake up.
Lauren showed at his women’s flagship on Madison Avenue, where the first two floors were transformed into a floral wonderland, their walls completely covered in orchids, 100,000 or so, intertwined with air plants, desert agave, vines and moss. “It’s a little bit exotic,” Lauren said during a preview.
Just the right bit. Themes can be cheesy. The strength here was that Lauren telegraphed that sense of romantic distance with discretion, never crossing over to cliché.
Continuing the course he embarked on last season, this was an instant fashion, buy-now show. Beginning Thursday, the spring clothes will be available online as well at select stores around the world. Early shoppers at the flagship will experience the installation, which will remain intact through Monday.
The lineup’s opening palette drew from sand and dunes — off-whites, beiges, almost-golds — and set the mood of subtle sensuality borne as much from the models’ ownership of the clothes as
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