It was a long road to Ralph Laurens spring 2025 show in Bridgehampton.
By 3 p.m., it still hadn’t left.
I just didnt knowhowlate.
The ambience at Ralph Lauren’s spring 2025 show in Bridgehampton.
Because the only thing worse than the New York City traffic we were currently in?
Long Island Expressway trafficthe exact highway we were trying to turn onto.
Two hours later, and wed only made it ten miles.
Waiters at the entrance of Khahily Stables in Bridgehampton.
(Earlier in the week, my editors asked me to live blog my journey on the newVogueapp.
One of them asked why I hadnt really posted yet.
I sent her a video of us stuck outside a Hooters in Queens.)
Equestrians jump before the Ralph Lauren show. Is that the right terminology? I’m not a horse girl.
The mood on my bus, which had started out lighthearted and jovial, began to turn.
Wed run out of small talk and unlike a cocktail party, there was nowhere to politely excuse ourselves.
Plus, water had begun to drip from our air conditioning.
Usher strikes a pose at the Ralph Lauren spring 2025 show.
The editor getting dripped on asked the driver if he could help.
He offered to pull over.
We arent stopping, someone hissed.
Christy Turlington-Burns was one of many famous models who walked in Ralph Lauren show.
(Ok, fine.
Then, the texts started arriving.
However, we didnt know that they were already there.
The front row at Ralph Lauren—including Tom Hiddleston and Justin Theroux—smile at two children walking down the runway.
A designer will wait for his front row VIPs to arrive.
But the bus people?
They do not usually wait for bus people.
Ari Fournier and Cole Sprouse inside The Polo Barn—or, Ralph Lauren’s one-night-only recreation of their iconic New York restaurant.
So then it became a slight panic about whether or not we were going to miss the show entirely.
(Did we want to stop to use the bathroom?
The bus driver asked.
We all shouted back no in unison.)
After a hard right turn in Quogue, we sprung another leak in the back.
I need a cigarette, the editor in front of me murmured.
Yet at 6:51 p.m., our traveling Titanic finally reached our destination.
Waiters at the entrance of Khahily Stables in Bridgehampton.
Technically, the show was held at Khalily Stables, a 19-acre equestrian center in Bridgehampton.
In Ralphampton, impeccably dressed equestrians trot elegantly around a riding field lined with a white picket fence.
In Ralphampton, every car is a vintage Jaguar or Mercedes.
Your illusion will be brutally shattered when you have to ask him where the porta-potty is.
(The driver was right.
You should have stopped!)
Equestrians jump before the Ralph Lauren show.
Is that the right terminology?
Im not a horse girl.
But then it returns!
Because walking out of said port-a-potty is Laura Dern, in head-to-toe Ralph Lauren and 70s-style sunglasses.
She cracks a joke while walking out.
Because in Ralphampton,of courseyou have an inside joke with Laura Dern.
By 7:01 p.m., all guests have been ushered into a white tent on the grounds.
Ralph Lauren laid it out so everyone got a front-row seat.
Even the bus people.
A cacophony of flashbulbs goes off for Tom Hiddleston.
Somewhere, someone tells me, is Dr. Jill Biden and her granddaughter Finnegan.
Usher strikes a pose at the Ralph Lauren spring 2025 show.
Christy Turlington-Burns was one of many famous models who walked in Ralph Lauren show.
Then came the kids.
Models appearing to range from four to 14 showed off Ralph Laurens Polo line.
Some did so hesitantly; others, with all the confidence in the world.
One little girl, practically skipping, waved the entire time down the runway.
(Oh, there was also a man holding a white horse in the background the entire time.)
Heres where I make a confession.
I was indoctrinated early into the Ralph Lauren ideal of Americana.
Id spend hours upon hours refolding it all after customers discarded them on display tables or in dressing rooms.
During my lunch break, Id eat the sandwich I brought from home on a bench outside the store.
Across the street was the Ralph Lauren mansion.
In between bites, I watched the women who walked in.
They were tall and wore clothes that never appeared wrinkled.
Their hair glimmered and their smiles did too.
Mine, meanwhile, felt like it was full of minimum-wage paychecks.
One afternoon, two girls I knew from school walked in.
Do you think we should hang those back up?
One asked the other as they left it all strewn across the floor.
I mean, its literallyherjob, she said.
The front row at Ralph Laurenincluding Tom Hiddleston and Justin Therouxsmile at two children walking down the runway.
After I finished cleaning up their mess, I told my manager I was clocking out.
I walked out onto the avenue and straight into Ralph Lauren.
It was two months' worth of paychecks.
But after a deep breath, I took it up to the cash register.
Fourteen years later, that trench coat still hangs in my closet.
Instead, they were wearing something theyd owned and loved for years.
Because heres the thing about Ralph.
You wear his clothes not just because theyre well-made.
Ralph Lauren didnt take a bow as far, as I could see.
When Ricky ushered him inside, it was a sign for all of us to come to.
If the pre-show was Ralphampton, the post-show was The Polo Barn.
(They even brought in their beloved maitre d, Nelly Moudime, from New York.)
Jude Law milled about, sipping martinis.
(Do we think he does gin or vodka?
my friend wondered.)
Lucky and Nara walked everywhere together arm-in-arm.
The First Lady and her granddaughter mingled with the Lauren family.
He kindly obliged every request.
The menu that night offered everyone the choice of Montauk black bass or the Polo Bars famous burger.
However, all great nights must come to an end.
The first wave of celebrities departed just as dessert was served.
The private car people began right after.
I thought about how impressive it was that they built all of this.Thisbeing, sure, the restaurant.
And then I thought something else:Oh my god, I have to get back on that bus.
