Ralph Lauren’s Extravagant 50th Anniversary Celebration in Central Park

Last Friday, Ralph Lauren celebrated 50 years with an event held at the iconic Bethesda Terrace of Central Park in New York City. At the celebration, guests like Blake Lively, Anne Hathaway, Chance The Rapper, Calvin Klein, and Thom Browne came together to preview the anniversary collections, while also enjoying an immersive video experience and a scenic outdoor dinner.

“For my 50th anniversary, I wanted to create and share a runway experience that was deeply personal and a summation of the style I’ve always believed in: personal, authentic, and forever, in a place so quintessentially, New York and so special to me—Central Park,” said Lauren.

For the runway show, the women’s Spring/Summer 2019 collection was showcased alongside Double RL and all three of the Polo Ralph Lauren collections (a first for the house) in a magnificent presentation amid the stone archways and gilded ceilings of the Bethesda Terrace. Throughout the show we saw a deep color palette, rich fabrics like leather and velvet, traditional tailoring, and the recurrence of the Ralph Lauren Crest. The brand’s all-American roots could be felt, alongside polo’s stance as the original symbol of the modern preppy brand.

Each piece emitted a sense of romance and bohemian sophistication as models made their way down the grand staircase. We loved looks like a dark purple velvet dress paired with matching boots and a brown leather jacket, and a pair of slouchy army green trousers coupled with a printed turtleneck and leather boots.

A video installation displayed on 17 large LED screens, featured a digitally remastered history of runway shows from 1967, over 400 images and videos from the brand’s archives, as well as imagery from past campaigns. To view the installation, guests entered a T-shaped chamber in which the videos were reflected onto a mirrored box, creating an immersive visual display.

Finally, attendees joined together for dinner around the Bethesda Fountain, where eclectic table settings of floral china and pewter flatware made for a scene reminiscent of an outdoor Parisian café. After enjoying a classic American meal of filet mignon inspired by The Polo Bar, the extravagant evening came to an end.