Ralph Lauren delivers intimate, starry fashion show with Jessica Chastain, Glenn Close, more

NEW YORK — Ralph Lauren knows how to put on a show.

Lauren delivered quintessential New York glamour Monday night to the intimate group of about 100 or so attendees, a smaller crowd than the Bronx-born legend and his heritage brand are capable of hosting. It spoke to the chic comfortability that emanated from the fall/holiday 2024 collection as well. 

With over-the-top shows in New York and Los Angeles the past few years, Lauren reconstructed other facets of his life at glitzy locales. At Monday's show, he returned to the place where the work is created, his first time showing at his office building in two decades. The designer sought to recreate the feeling of his actual office with the chairs and oversized portraits lining the runway, calling back to presenting his first women's show in 1972 to a small group of editors in his office.

"This Ralph Lauren woman is not defined by time or trends. She's bold and confident and this is what I wanted to reflect in this collection," Lauren said in an exclusive statement to USA TODAY. "I've dreamed and designed in this space for decades. It felt right to show in an intimate setting and invite everyone into the space that I draw inspiration from the most."

The invite list was intentional and personal, with Jessica Chastain, Glenn Close, Kerry Washington, Jodie Turner-Smith, "Hacks" star Hannah Einbinder and "Gilded Age" star Morgan Spector and wife Rebecca Hall dazzling in the front row.

If Lauren's star-studded September homecoming at the Brooklyn Navy Yard was a sparkling keepsake box of jewel tones and a bright translation of his Double RL Ranch in Colorado, then Monday night's runway hailed the lived-in luxury for which the hallmark brand has become known.

In a fall/holiday 2024 collection comprised solely of neutrals, a sequined gold cocktail dress with audible bejeweled fringe was paired with a slouchy cardigan; textures married to create unexpected pockets of visual intrigue; a "Cowboy Carter" chic final look of a floor-length sparkling slip dress and a black cowboy hat. Supermodel Christy Turlington opened the show in a smart beige suit topped with a wool coat, followed by a line of models in sumptuous tans, browns, blacks and creams.

Elements of the American West ("yeehaw," said the belt buckles and suede fringe) and the American Dream intertwined to round out the collection. 

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A standing ovation welcomed the designer, 84, as he and his wife stepped onto the runway for a final bow. Lauren greeted Vogue editor Anna Wintour as he took in the applause, exactly one week ahead of the first Monday in May, the annual Met Gala extravaganza (the brand will not be dressing anyone this year at this year's fête).

Ralph Lauren Polo Bar dinner sees Kerry Washington, Glenn Close mingling with designer

Shuttles took some attendees (and shoes or private cars took others) to the designer's luxe uptown restaurant with a nearly ungettable reservation, the Polo Bar. 

Another standing ovation welcomed Lauren as he entered the dimly lit lower level of the restaurant. Washington and Close dined at Lauren's table, while Spector, Hall and Turner-Smith chatted over warm bread and crudite. The horse portraits lining every conceivable space on the walls watched on as guests sipped martinis and dined on the signature Polo Bar burger.

The desserts – petit fours of a brownie with walnuts, strawberry cheesecake and coconut cake – much like the crowd, the clothing and the atmosphere, were dubbed "Ralph's Favorites."