Both mark the first time Lauren’s merchandise is sold officially on Russian soil. To meet that potential, Lauren opened two stores simultaneously, one downtown, and the other, resembling a chic Swiss chalet, just outside the city in the Barvikha luxury shopping village. I think that’s why the market here is going to boom, because there’s energy and a hunger for product, luxury and exclusivity.” “Their appetite is like when you sit down to a meal starved. “They have money to spend,” he continued. But here there’s an energy and a newness that comes from a different place. Certainly, the American market has been pretty great. “The energy and the exuberance about luxury and life, the appetite, is amazing,” the designer said of the Russian market. Pusha T, Futura, and More Attend the KENZO By Nigo Launch Party The show was followed by a sit-down dinner at three long tables covered with china, glass and huge silver candelabra. Lauren, in black tie, took an emotional bow.īurns did not attend because he was at the Russian state dinner for Condoleezza Rice, so his wife, Lisa Carty, hosted the evening, which drew Russian energy moguls as well as polo player Nacho Figueras and Lady Gabriella Windsor, who has become a brand ambassador for Lauren in the U.K.

The evening began with a cocktail party outside in the gardens, followed by the show in the hall of the residence. “I’m totally impressed by Russia,” enthused Lauren, whose first trip here included a dinner and fashion show at the residence of American Ambassador William Burns on Tuesday evening. He told, for instance, of a Russian woman who walked into his flagship Monday, brushing aside protests it wasn’t open yet, to give her credit card in reserve for five Ricky crocodile bags for roughly $100,000.Īt both stores, which will be operated under partnership with Russia’s Mercury distribution group, customers have been calling to subscribe to long waiting lists because all the bags are on hold even in advance of the opening. Indeed, Russia - in particular, Moscow - has shaped up as an El Dorado for many of Europe’s leading luxury players, from Cartier and Boucheron to Giorgio Armani and Prada.Īnd, if early customer interest is a reliable litmus test for Lauren, he, too, may strike gold here. Russian people have a history of a lot of elegance and a lot of class. “When they asked me to come here years ago, I felt that I wasn’t ready for Russia with the clothes that I make,” explained Lauren, dressed head to toe in black with a gold Rolex on his wrist. But as Lauren, who stressed his company’s commitment to overseas growth, prepared to inaugurate twin stores in the Russian capital on Thursday, he emphasized how rapidly business and tastes have evolved in this vibrant luxury market.

“I didn’t think they would get it,” he said Tuesday. 'Obviously we would love to see more donations of this magnitude from companies that can afford it, but we do not underestimate the power of small donors,' Tom Ford, chairman of the Council of Fashion Designers of America told WWD.MOSCOW - Just a few years ago Ralph Lauren considered this city, Russia’s traffic-clogged epicenter of conspicuous consumption and rabid new-wealth oligarchs, unready for his understated American take on style. Lauren also made an inaugural gift for an undisclosed amount to the CFDA/ Vogue Fashion Fund, which has been repurposed to help out designers and brands affected by the economic toll the pandemic will extract from the industry. I realize that over the course of 50 years you could blow it or you could stand for something.' 'I’m not a doctor I just wanted to do what I could to help,' he told Town & Country in a cover story in 2018. Lauren's philanthropic work in cancer care goes back at least 20 years. And through its Pink Pony Fund, the company will continue to support cancer organizations whose patients are especially at risk at this time. Lauren is also extending financial grants through the Emergency Assistance Foundation to employees and partners who may need help covering medical, childcare and eldercare costs. Lauren's $10 million commitment will serve different causes, including the World Health Organization's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. A large billboard raising awareness to the measures taken by the Italian government to fight against the spread of the COVID-19.

Ralph lauren russian collection