Polo returned to Paris this afternoon to propose an eclectically accumulated yet pragmatically formulated wardrobe. “I really wanted to go back to a bit more of an American summer,” said Karen Brown Brody, who works under Ralph Lauren’s direction as senior brand creative director for women’s Polo. “She travels, right? So she’s getting jewelry from places. She’s getting a straw bag from somewhere.” Yet while roaming far and wide, Brody added, the collection was intended to remain grounded in “our classics and our icons and things that just feel innately Ralph Lauren,” with a particular emphasis on canonical pieces.
Thus we saw familiar Polo elements shifted and recalibrated through proportion, fabrication and styling. There were two opposing directions in silhouette that saw tailoring become narrower and more cropped in places—“a little more shrunken and a little more slender”—or breezily easy in wide trousers, shorts and fuller skirts.
Chino shorts were rolled high and worn so that a baggily-tucked shirt tail dropped down from within them. “It’s a little haphazard,” Brody said. “She kind of just did it quickly and ran out.” Madras scarves were twisted into belts. Brody described Polo as “a happy brand.” The collection used color either in sophisticated combinations or monochromatically. Cobalt, coral, red and purple appeared alongside washed neutrals. Madras, checks and florals supplied pattern. Material textures ran through washed linen, cotton, crochet, printed calf hair and raffia.
Several pieces interestingly proposed Polo signatures with fresh flourishes. A cable-knit sweater, shown in blue and cream, was extended down to ankle level, the familiar knit shifting gradually into crochet fins. A white polo shirt was also extended from top to toe. The piqué normally associated with it was beefed up in weight and used for fitted, easy jackets.
This season Polo worked with Piki Wadsworth, a second-generation Diné and Hopi jewelry artist, through Ralph Lauren’s Authentic Makers program. Wadsworth worked with shells and stones including turquoise and lapis, cut, drilled and polished by hand. Brody placed her very lovely pieces alongside straw bags, scarves and other accumulated accoutrements.
The Blaze bag continued in several shapes, including a new clutch, alongside the ID bag and raffia styles. Last season’s sleek, smoking-slipper-inspired Polo loafers returned in new colors, in suede and leather. “These are very much wardrobe pieces,” said Brody. “That’s what Polo’s all about.”
