The World of Ralph Lauren
75
site or even a new country resort to the power of classicism or another proven
epoch to prop up the new with something timeless.
This is also why historical signifiers permeate the invented world of Ralph
Lauren. The tactile appeal of crocodile or the lusciousness of cashmere are auto
matic references to old money, exclusivity and even landed aristocracy. Cape Cod
like homes a la the Kennedy’s, festive groups gathered on manicured lawns to play
sports or just lounge, and images of intact familial generations (complete with
grandfather/scion and grandmother/clan matriarch) are themes that are evoked again
and again. By wearing, displaying or purchasing some facet of the world of Ralph
Lauren, one is demonstrating that one possesses “class” or more accurately, the
disposable income to don these clothes. It is as if the polo, the button down, the
tasseled loafers or the tweed jacket gives one a pass into a dream world of taste,
manners, old money and refinement. From the golf photos to the picnics, from
yachting to the antique cars, the shorthand implied is a level of status and taste that
was once the preserve of the elite but that now can be available to anyone with the
sense/cents to buy.
The kind of historical signification utilized in the marketing and the construc
tion of the world of Ralph Lauren is similar to the kind of history projected in
Hollywood films and, to some extent, in tourist attractions that run the gamut from
Disney World to old west towns, pioneer villages and Colonial Williamsburg. It is
a distilled form of historical mythology that reflects the kind of popular archetypes
that most people can readily understand, relate to, and immediately process. As
architectural historian Witold Rybczynski writes, Ralph Lauren’s clothes, themes,
and ideas:
...are based on recognizable homegrown images: the western ranch, the
prairie farm, the Newport mansion, the Ivy League college. The feeling
of deja vu is intentional: Lauren is an orchestrator of images. Although
his clothes are not faithful replicas of period dress, their appearance does
reflect popular ideas about various romantic periods of American history.
We have seen them all before, in paintings, in photographs, on television,
and, especially, in films. (2, 3)
The advertisements exude the intangible notions of privilege and refinement,
exclusivity and even high culture. The attempt is to transfix the potential consumer
with these signs so that s/he will desire this form of mass exclusivity, exclusively.
The intentionality is subtle yet extraordinarily effective. The East Coast family
pictured in (See Figure 2) blends health and beauty. Everyone seems self-satisfied,
brimming, even glowing, with their status and the viewer can’t help but long to be
a part of it all.