Polo Ralph Lauren at the US Open 2026 Campaign Lensed by Maya Skelton
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In New York @US Open: Ralph Lauren is often panned by so many elite class [or so they claim] of fashion writers in the world. Vanessa Friedman just tried to kill off the new Ralph Lauren Spring 2027 collection. I expected this was coming and Friedman delivered [free link] .
Coco, do well tonight!!! Update: Coco lost her semi-finals match against Rybakina. I remain so impressed with the character of this young woman, on Friday morning September 11.
In Praise of Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff has rebuilt herself as a tennis player in a painful and psychologically wrenching year of changing her most fundamental ways of hitting the tennis ball. She has had to unlearn everything she was doing.
Gauff has also had some agonizing moments at the US Open this year. She was upset but grabbed herself by the shoulders and ended up winning her match. She was frustrated but didn’t cry. One moment she’s the grand champion and then she falters.
Coco Gauff does not give up. She manages to center herself, regain her confidence and win. I am so proud of her as a young woman and an American. You guys know I love women with backbone, and Coco Gauff has it.
It’s a big deal to submit yourself to a total rebuild of your game in a short time window. AOC is very proud of you Coco Gauff.
Okay. Back to Ralph Lauren. Americans — and now the Chinese people love him — and few more than Anne. Why?
1] Ralph Gave Us Michael Rider at Celine, his old home under Phoebe Philo. Rider says Ralph was so friendly and supportive of him at Polo Ralph Lauren that he was shocked at Ralph’s accessible spirit.
The designer seems to be confused that F1 races are for Louis Vuitton race cars, and he’s trying to ride his Celine race horse at 220 mph.
I love it!!! And AOC does have him in a big imaginary horse race, closing in on Dior in five years if Beccari can find the funds to give him room to run full throttle. This man has talent and his ego is under control. Rider is very focused on the perspective of the client and is not obsessed with dressing the client in his image of what she should be wearing to showcase his vision of who she should be. The client is not his billboard.
2] Ralph Lauren Loves America in a profound way. He is the American self-made success story and young men from many countries admire him so much for his accomplishments and accumulation of wealth.
His clothes are dedicated to lifestyle and not fashion trends. Ralph Lauren brands have become a global success story, and his is one American success story I’m so proud of.
3] Ralph Lauren has tackled the key topics of our time, especially race. He does not avoid controversy and doing the right thing. This has not been a totally easy path for Ralph to navigate, especially around issues of race. I have been critical of Ralph Lauren in the past. But for years now, AOC is rock solid behind Ralph Lauren, his family and his push to redefine the America story, based on being true to our history while also encouraging all people to dream big.
4] Ralph Lauren has evolved profoundly to create a mindful, engaged, 21st company committed to people, not only profits.
In Ralph’s case, he listened to a string of consultants, although our man of the moment probably wished he never hired Judge A. Leon Higginbotham in the first place. Ralph’s brain is blank on Judge Higginbotham ever handing him his book ‘Shades of Freedom’ to read. Ralph explained to the judge that he helped Tyson Beckford to become a superstar and didn’t have a racist bone in his body.
That’s probably a true statement, but there’s a lot of nuanced grey matter in our brains that hold competing thoughts. What is great for the world at large is that Ralph Lauren decided not to be harnessed to his beliefs, not to ‘dig in’ around the problems. Ralph chose to allow instead some alternating views to enter — judgement free — into his great mind and thrive there.
I’m certain that his wife Ricky and children Andrew, David and Dylan were also influential in this process.
Lauren’s memory lapse on Judge A. Leon Higginbotham is fine for Anne — who wrote my testimonial to Ralph Lauren a few years back [in retrieval mode] — as I itemized the extraordinary commitment that Ralph Lauren has made to inclusion on every level and from every angle during every year since his great awakening. This is no ‘flash in the pan’ kind of guy.
5] No luxury company that I know of can match Chanel’s contributions to women and girls including environment challenges that particularly impact women. Even my jaw dropped when I read that Leena Nair has increased Chanel’s annual commitments from an annual $25 million to $125 million.
I doubt that Ralph Lauren’s commitments reach that level, but they are long-standing and of major magnitude. And Lauren’s commitments to America’s high-crafts communities and to America’s multi-cultural heritage is historic and inspiring beyond words. His work on breast cancer is legendary and he funds medical care in Harlem and other cities, with rarely-available world class treatments normally unavailable in these communities.
6] The “how he delivered” piece of the story. Once Ralph Lauren crossed the river to be a true progressive but in the company of his own values — has been consistent and blockbuster. The Ralph Lauren company has institutionalized change, tapping one great collaboration after another, especially for Polo Ralph Lauren, Rider’s old stomping grounds.
7] They love Ralph Lauren in China because of how the entire company works to assure the Chinese that they are mining world history for shared values — not American values or a Eurocentric perspective. Ralph Lauren is as interested in what the Chinese can share with Americans, as to how Polo becomes important to them in Shanghai.
The Ralph Lauren company posted full-year fiscal 2026 revenue growth of 15% to a record $8.1 billion.
8] Headlines at Jing Daily also compliment Ralph Lauren’s success in China, Chinese New Year 2026 - present.
China doesn’t want vintage, unless it’s Ralph Lauren.
How Ralph Lauren’s Polo Cup in China revives the polo spirit.
A horse, a dream, and a city of light: Ralph Lauren’s CNY tribute.
AOC ignores the 4th, February 6, 2026 headline about Ralph Lauren slowing in China, after the quarter’s sales rose only 7% compared to 8% last year. Yes, the marketing % investment increased to get that 7% and the stock price dropped 6%, because any increase impacts profitability.
I read that Ralph Lauren was clocking a 36% increase in China, pre-taxation on the wealthy crackdown this summer.
Ralph Lauren — like Brunello Cucinelli — is in for the long haul in China at a time when others may find themselves kicked out of the lineup. Gucci update 8/8/2026: The forever-in-recovery Gucci brand in China cut prices yesterday. Note as well that when Gucci sales improve in any country, it probably means that the rate of sales decrease has improved.
Update: I just had a touchbase with my team in China. When I watched the Ralph Lauren Spring 2027 show yesterday, I said “Good God, Dior is going to get killed. Chanel is running all over them, and we know that. Now Ralph Lauren is going to put the squeeze on Dior majorly with great design at half the price.”
When just now I shared that I found Ralph Lauren to have similar appeal to what Jonathan Anderson did at half the price — and the clothes actually drape splendidly, compared to Anderson’s — my team said “Anne, you are crazy in how you read these situations. This is EXACTLY what Chinese people are saying about yesterday’s Ralph Lauren show in New York City. That Ralph Lauren was more elegant and infinitely better tailored at half the price of Dior.” I also found Ralph’s fabrications to be superb.
So Ralph Lauren, a truly great American who gives me a bit of hope, got a strong stamp of approval out of China for his Spring 2027 show. Bravo!!! The situation in Washington with respect to the rest of the world is just agonizing for many of us. So Ralph is giving me a jolt of hope fuel and pride in the American promise. ~ Anne
Models in the campaign include Akbar Shamji, Nile Winchester, Tommy Gray, River Klein and Ellis Mueller. David Oscroft is on creative direction with photography by Maya Skelton [IG].
