Ralph Lauren's Ode to Vintage Americana
Ralph Lauren founded RRL or “Double ‘R’-L” in 1993, taking the name from his cattle ranch in Colorado. A clear departure from famously branded, brightly colored polos, RRL draws inspiration from a wide range of sources from the military to sportswear to the Old West, but all evoke vintage Americana.
The fabrics and garments are made with meticulous attention to detail. Most “indigo” dyes are synthetic, but each of these shirts is woven from yarns dyed with pigments taken from fermented leaves of the Indigofera tinctoria plant.
The Indigo Seersucker Camp Shirt utilizes a quintessential warm-weather fabric rich in the puckered texture for which seersucker is best known. But rather than the traditional colored stripes, it is dyed with true indigo, which will rub off and show a rich spectrum of blues just like hard-worn denim.
The Indigo Striped Jersey Overshirt is perfect for when the sun sets on the beach, and you need another layer as the temperature drops. Here we have a heavily washed indigo fabric that shows off all the shades the natural dye can achieve in a perfect lived-in look.
Even the blues in this Plaid Woven Camp Shirt are derived from Indigofera tinctoria. The wooden buttons here are not only lightweight and beautiful but contribute to that natural feel of the shirt.
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