Are we getting a touch of the Buffalo Bills from this, Ralph Lauren’s latest Purple Label collection, shown in NY yesterday? By which we are not referring to the killer in The Silence Of The Lambs, there were no woman suits made from carefully moisturised human skin here, but rather Buffalo Bill Cody, him of bison hunting/fur trapping/gold hunting fame fame. We’re thinking Annie Get Your Gun. The American West. Making your fortune through blood, sweat, tears and the dusty land alone. Think: navajo-style prints meet turn-of-the century military tailoring. Waistcoats, battered leather jackets, silky jackets. And what is more American, we might ask, than a cowboy wearing Ralph Lauren? But banish any thoughts of this being stuck somewhere about two centuries ago – here, the ideas are thrown through the filter of modern American dressing – slouchy knitwear, cargo pants, high-top suede trainers. And, for good measure, a nice line of tuxes to finish. Including one with fringing along each arm. Because every cowboy’s got to strike gold eventually.
