Ralph Lauren Dazzles Bridgehampton

By Katlean de Monchy–

Women’s Wear Daily was wowed by Ralph Lauren’s Spring 2025 show in the Hamptons, which drew stars of the fashion world, like Anna Wintour, movie and television actors, models, influencers, Olympic athletes, musicians, the whole nine yards, plus America’s First Lady. For one Thursday in September, Bridgehampton was the center of the fashion world, the day before New York Fashion Week started.

International models and influencers were guests for the fashion show (Instagram)

Transportation was provided for many, either helicopter or luxury jitneys. After all, they had to leave Manhattan and head for the Hamptons on a Thursday.

Nonetheless, here were Jude Law, Tom Hiddleston, H.E.R., Justine Theroux, the country/not-county singer Kacey Musgraves (who chose to wear nothing under her Ralph Lauren blazer), Leonie Hanne (a German fashion influencer with five million followers — the Lauren people were excited to have her), and dozens of others, known and unknown to the general public.

Jude Law (compliments of Ralph Lauren media)

I saw not one Hamptons person I recognized– people who could walk to the event, although, wait, Jonathan and Lizzie Tisch were there! They live in Bridgehampton. Also Christie Turlington (Burns) lives in Montauk, so I guess that makes three “locals” — someone correct me if I am wrong.

Usher was talking to Jill Biden, surrounded by her Secret Service agents. She was wearing a Ralph Lauren Collection suit jacket, as she often does. This one was a Beckman Blazer with princess seams front and back and princess darts, according to Women’s Wear Daily. (You think I got that close to find out?) Rather corsetlike. As you can see, it had a square neckline, unusual for Dr. Biden, and a buttoned placket. (That just means it has doubled fabric, not a single layer of fabric and a lining, ok?) She wore matching trousers (all the better to get into and out of helicopters) and pumps. The brooch is perhaps her stylist’s idea, something to break up all that black.

Usher was wearing pale yellow, and I think it was Ralph Lauren, but it lacked any Polo markings. I’m not sure about the sunglasses, which he kept on. (So did Anna Wintour.)

Usher, Dr. Jill Biden and security (from ABC film)

Dr. Biden came to the fashion show with her granddaughter Finnegan Biden. Laura Dern, in a Ralph Lauren Blazer, was accompanied by her daughter, Jaya Harper. Almost every guest seemed to arrive wearing Ralph Lauren. Tom Hiddleston (“Loki” “The Avengers”) looked smart, as British actors always seem to do, as did Jude Law.

Olympic swimmer Bobby Finke, who was dressed in a Ralph Lauren Varsity jacket, confessed to an interviewer, “I come to one of these every year and I always get new clothes –I wear them all the time.” He of course wore Ralph Lauren’s uniforms at the Olympics.

Laura Dern with her daughter Jaya Harper (Instagram)

Others who seemed to arrive especially well dressed were the actor Colman Domingo, in a three-piece suit, and the actress, singer and dancer Demi Singleton, who wore, as many women did, men’s haberdashery. And looked smashing in it.

Demi Singleton, actor, dancer and singer (Instagram)

Representing a younger contingent were Cole Sprouse and his girlfriend, Ari Fournier, who are both beneficiaries of Disney shows, as was Joey King, who also wore a Varsity Jacket. There was the singer H.E.R., and I believe her daughter walked in the show. There were lots of children in the show, often wearing miniature grown-up clothes.

They were interviewed by the model Lucky Blue Smith, a gift to the modeling world, as a combination of Ronan Farrow looks and Gatsby-esque vibes, and straight. He is comfortable doing interviews and charming when he was talking to children, which he did before the show. He also posed with expensive automobiles, as if he was about to whisk someone’s innocent daughter off to Monaco.

The actor Colman Domingo (Instagram)

At one end of the runway, there was an opening where horses could be seen grazing. Because some notable attendees preferred to make their own way to Bridgehampton, and got held up in traffic (or so they said), the beginning of the fashion show was delayed 45 minutes.

Joey King modeling her Ralph Lauren varsity jacket on Instagram.

For this particular group of people, interested in meeting each other, and most of them happy to wile away a few hours with whatever was in those orange drinks, that was no problem. The only issue was that it pushed dinner after the show even later. For people who had skipped supper, well …

Jude Law, Tom Hiddleston, Dylan Lauren, her husband, Paul Arrouet, and Usher (Instagram)

You know, everyone was so good looking, it was hard to tell the guests from the models.

When Ralph Lauren’s images came out after the show, it turned out that many of the guests — Naomi Watts, Laura Dern, Jude Law, and others — looked like brand ambassadors.

The view at the end of the runway for people waiting for the fashion show to start. (Instagram)

As for the show. Women’s Wear Daily called it a winning combination of Lauren’s greatest hits: “ruffled romanticism, varsity prep, rugged western, Americana, ‘Great Gatsby’ glamour.” They pointed out that the brand is going upmarket with the couture line made in Italy, and that one dress was a “pearl dégradé tank gown hand embroidered with more than 200,000 pearls.” “Degrade” means subtly shaded, like ombre, but classier.

Anna Wintour next to Colman Domingo, watching the show. (Instagram)

Lauren is a master of diversity in hiring models, who included Black, Asian, white, young and (relatively) old. He has long been fond of Western and Native American motifs. This time he had two models with Native American ancestry, Philip Bread, who is Kiowa and Comanche, and Quannah Chasinghorse, who is Oglala Lakota and Hän Gwich’in, a Canadian and Alaskan Native tribe recognized for their facial tattoos. More recognizable on the runway: Christie Turlington and Naomi Campbell, both long associated with the Ralph Lauren brand.

Christie Turlington (who also walked the runway with her daughter, Grace) and Naomi Campbell (Ralph Lauren marketing)

The show concluded, as fashion shows must, with the designer walking out at the end with his wife of 60 years, Ricky Anne Loew-Beer. David Lauren, with his wife Lauren Bush Lauren, and Dylan Lauren and her husband, Paul Arrouet, were also on the scene. The older son, Andrew Lauren, is a film director and producer. His film “The Brutalist” played at the Toronto Film Festival on September 6, in competition, so Andrew Lauren might have been preoccupied. The film stars Adrien Brody.

At center, Ralph Lauren and Ricky Anne Loew-Beer, surrounded by models (Ralph Lauren marketing)

It should be noted that models were seen carrying the “Ralph” bag. And while Ralph Lauren is not particularly noted for luxury leather goods, this one might be a contender, or so says WWD.

So, the show was over, and people could go home? Oh no. Now was the time for the sit down dinner, with formal place settings, Ralph Lauren tableware, and giant cheese puffs, still warm, sitting at each plate. And that was just the beginning. Ralph Lauren’s people had transported Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bar from 55th Street and Fifth Avenue to Bridgehampton. The decor, glassware, menu, everything was there. And for once people could get in, visions dancing in their heads of the Polo Bar cheeseburger, with cheddar cheese, crisp bacon, lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles and hand-cut fries. For dessert, maybe some of those dark chocolate shortbread cookies.

The event was considered such a success, Women’s Wear practically begged the company to make it an annual event. But suggested that what they called the odious “eight-hour” trip out and back was too much to tolerate. Instead they hinted, the company should act the way haute couture houses do in Europe when they throw destination runway shows. (We can remember when Christian Dior brought journalists, publicists and photographers along for its pre-fall 2023 collection, in Mumbai.)

Why not make it a two-day event, and throw in an over-night stay in a hotel?

By the way, the location for the fashion show was the Khalily Stables, a 19 acre equestrian compound at 6 West Pond Drive in Bridgehampton. For anyone who has a thing for horses, Khalily Stables is for sale, although the accommodations lean heavily on the side of the horses. There are 27 stalls, and only 1 and 1/2 bathrooms.