Ralph Lauren’s First Flagship Store Opens In India

After 50 years in the business of fashion and shaping the American idea of ‘lifestyle’, Ralph Lauren reaches Indian shores. Just months after the brand launched its casual subsidiary, Polo Ralph Lauren, it opened its flagship store in Delhi’s The Chanakya mall last weekend.

One of the only stores there to be spread across two floors, it will house clothes and accessories, for both, women and men, comprising glamorous evening wear in Ralph Lauren Collection, finely tailored suits in Purple Label and even the Polo Bear Collection — an adorable antithesis to the brand’s equestrian roots — inspired by how the designer’s brother would gift him a teddy bear on his birthday every year, depicting his likeness. As the brand’s also a believer of the ‘see now, buy now’ concept, Lauren’s latest Pre-Spring 2019 collection for men and Spring/Summer 2019 collection for women will also deck the store’s shelves soon; good news for its impatient patrons.

It’s classic, combined aesthetic of US’s golden ages; the wild West, sporty-prep and old Hollywood, could find a growing audience here, especially after the brand dressed Priyanka Chopra, not only for 2017 and 2018’s Met Galas but also her wedding, held recently. The powerful move bolstered the well-established brand’s need to stay relevant in a new market and find new, younger customers, in an age when it’s already created opportunities for itself in almost every lifestyle space, such as homeware and fragrances.

Since the designer likes everything he makes to have an influence of his travels, the store, unusually carries Spanish-inspired décor; carpeted floors, pristine walls, warm woodwork and of course, polo players, all harking back to the 1940s, except for a wall painted orange and pink as an homage to India.