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If anyone still remembers what The Bold and the Beautiful – the CBS soap opera about two feuding fashion families in (well) Los Angeles – used to be like in the late 80s, Thursday morning’s Ralph Lauren show in New York would have brought a tear of nostalgia to their eyes. It was a post-Dynasty time when fashion was bold and brave and still somewhat old school, and TV lapped it up and churned it back out in a fanfare of amazingly Americanised historicism and glamour. Through Russia and France – and with a dramatic classical soundtrack for added pomp – Lauren staged a lavish meeting between, say, Anna Karenina and Édith Piaf, with all the furry hats, velvet suits and ball gowns you could wish for. It was a refreshing departure from a current fashion scene, which easily overdoses on minimalism, and a magnificent exercise in the creative genius of Ralph Lauren, who, on an even more fabulous note, emerged to a standing ovation in a tight, white Aran rollneck and maxi-flared black sailor trousers.
Text: Anders Christian Madsen
Photography: Mitchell Sams
