Polo Ralph Lauren to Release New Capsule Collection to Celebrate Spelman’s and Morehouse’s Fashionable History
Copyright Ralph Lauren | Nadine Ijewere
After pledging $2 million in donations to twelve HBCUs at the end of 2021, Ralph Lauren has created a new collection to further its support for Black college culture. The brand has teamed up with HBCUs Spelman College and Morehouse College to create a new collection celebrating the fashionable history of both institutions. If you’re a current or former student of Morehouse or Spelman College, get ready to stock up on this new line!
The capsule collection, which will be released at the end of March, was produced by a team of Black photographers, videographers, creative directors, and models. The majority of models seen in the campaign are students and alumni from Spelman and Morehouse. The inspiration for the line comes directly from previous students of Spelman and Morehouse, with the team using old pictures, yearbooks, mottos, and newsletters from the 1920s to 1950s to design the clothing (WWD).
Copyright Ralph Lauren | Nadine Ijewere
James Jeter, Polo Ralph Lauren’s Director of Concept Design and Special Projects and Morehouse graduate, made the following statement about the new line he initially proposed (via WWD).
“It was really important to steep this in history to show that this is not new,” said Jeter. A lot of this project was really about changing ownership around how we think about clothing. So who owns three-piece suits? Who owns cable cardigans? Who owns the circle skirt, for instance? And while it’s typically and historically been relegated to Ivy League schools, if you see these archival images from [Morehouse and] Spelman, that has really helped to inform a lot of the way that we approached not only the design but the way that we approached the campaigns as well.”
The collection will drop on Ralph Lauren’s website, select stores and on Morehouse’s and Spelman’s campus tomorrow on March 29.
Find out more about the capsule collection here.