Polo Ralph Lauren's latest collaboration with Morehouse and Spelman Colleges aims to provide a more comprehensive solution to the question of who owns American style.
Later this month, a capsule collection reflecting the history and sartorial traditions of both HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) will be released, with an all-Black everything campaign: For the project, Ralph Lauren enlisted the help of Black creative directors, photographers, cinematographers, and models (mostly Morehouse and Spelman students).
James Jeter, Ralph Lauren director of concept design and special projects, Morehouse College alum (class of 2013), and mastermind behind the capsule, told WWD that "it was incredibly crucial to steep this in history to emphasize that this is not new." "A big part of our initiative was about redefining how we think about clothes ownership." So, who is the proud owner of a three-piece suit? Cable cardigans are owned by who? For example, who owns the circular skirt? And while it's usually and historically been associated with Ivy League colleges, you can see a lot of these archive photographs from [Morehouse and] Spelman, which have really served to shape a lot of the way we handled not only the design but also the campaigns.
HBCU students, according to Spelman College president Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, were inventing their own style before mass manufacture and well before collegiate style was assigned to an often exclusive elite. (On the capsule, both schools collaborated with Ralph Lauren designers.)
The collection encourages conversations about the creative power of the Black experience and the ways in which a personal fashion aesthetic intersects with institutional values of solidarity and connection by sharing the early history of Spelman through clothing, as reflected in archival research," she said. "In the late 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement relied heavily on the history of dress and style. Students who sat at lunch tables, protested in front of segregated department stores, or marched in marches wore their clothes with purposeful and planned awareness.
The campaign, which was shot by fashion photographer Nadine Ijewere, looks like a fresh take on 1920s and 1930s classics, with items like tweed three-piece suits designed in Italy with fabrics from London, boatneck sweaters with a "M," a double-breasted linen blazer with a Spelman crest, and a formal look fit for cotillion balls among the collection's highlights. Morehouse was founded in 1867, and Ralph Lauren in 1967, therefore "67" on the back of some sportswear styles is a great synergy. For the first time, a Spelman-branded scarf will be worn by the renowned Ralph Lauren Polo bear.
