All posts tagged: ralph lauren

Dark Academia vs. Light Academia: How These Tumblr-Core Aesthetics Create a Bookish Fantasy for Gen Z

Dark Academia vs. Light Academia: How These Tumblr-Core Aesthetics Create a Bookish Fantasy for Gen Z

Published by Jenni Sidey

The ivy-covered walls of elite schools and universities have long been a subject of intrigue, evoking curiosity about what happens within these institutions. The insular nature of academia has left many wondering: What do the students know that I don’t? This mystique, fueled by popular media from the juggernaut that is Harry Potter to the 1989 cult classic Dead Poets Society, feeds into the “dark academia” and “light academia” styles that have come to permeate the internet in recent years. On TikTok, you might find men sporting wool trousers, dark overcoats, and toting around leather-bound books, looking as if they were running to a lecture. While most microtrends tend to come and go in the TikTok era (a time of hyper-niche “cores” and “aesthetics”), academia has served as a constant source of style inspiration for millennials and Gen Z since the Tumblr heyday of the 2010s. Now, on just TikTok alone, there are over 700,000 videos under the #darkacademia tag, and over 80,000 under #lightacademia. Both dark and light academia deliver autumnal ensembles that look …

With All Due Respect to Polo, RRL Is Ralph Lauren’s Most Ralph Lauren Label

With All Due Respect to Polo, RRL Is Ralph Lauren’s Most Ralph Lauren Label

Published by Jenni Sidey

2025 was Ralph Lauren’s year. That might not sound like much of a triumph: for the last five decades or so, every year has sort of been Ralph Lauren’s year. But 2025 was especially good to the maestro of American menswear, whose iconic pony logo has never been hotter, and whose genre-colliding vision of preppy style has never resonated harder. Amid all the crowing press blasts, though, it was easy to miss a slightly wonkier tidbit of Ralph Lauren lore: Doug Bihlmaier, the brand’s in-house vintage guru, was hanging up his threadbare chore coat for good—and auctioning off a treasure trove of grails from his own closet to celebrate. Bihlmaier’s retirement thrust the beloved archivist into the spotlight for more reasons than one. Unless you’re a regular on the estate sale circuit (or the forums that venerate Bihlmaier’s darned-to-death style) you probably weren’t aware of the role he played at RRL, Ralph Lauren’s deeply influential line of frontier Americana. Missed out on scoring a rare gem from Bihlmaier’s own closet? Don’t sweat it—you didn’t miss …

Inside Ralph Lauren’s Post-Runway Dinner Party in Milan with Liam Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Henry Golding

Inside Ralph Lauren’s Post-Runway Dinner Party in Milan with Liam Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, and Henry Golding

Published by Sam Flores

Though Ralph himself did not make the trip from the states, opting instead to watch from a live stream in New York, there was no shortage of star power. Looking on from the front row were a who’s who in the world of new guard leading men: Henry Golding, Liam Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Colman Domingo, Morgan Spector, Benito Skinner, and Nick Jonas. “I always think of my father when I’m here, because this is the place where he would show me just how men were dressing,” David recalled. “We would walk the streets and see how Polo or Purple Label had become part of the culture. He’d say, ‘If it works in Italy, it means you’re a global brand.’” Liam Hemsworth, Gabriella Brooks Giovanni Mocchetti/BFA.com Following the show, as the models emerged from backstage to mingle with guests for canapés and cocktails, the scene became a veritable trunk show. “I think I need that Yankee bomber jacket,” Golding told VF. He was just one of many guests, celebrity and otherwise, who were already drafting their …

At Milan Fashion Week, Ralph Lauren Proves He’s Still King of the Youths

At Milan Fashion Week, Ralph Lauren Proves He’s Still King of the Youths

Published by Jenni Sidey

This is an edition of the newsletter Show Notes, in which Samuel Hine reports from the front row of the fashion world. Sign up here to get it free. In case you haven’t been on TikTok lately, Ralph Lauren is beloved by Gen-Z-ers, who are obsessed with his lifestyle flourishes, from the way he tucks his shirts to his high-WASP holiday decor. And as it turns out, he loves them back. On Friday evening, the opening night of Milan Fashion Week, Ralph Lauren commenced his fall 2026 men’s show with a masterclass in modern street style—as in, what kids actually wear out and about—filtered through Ralph’s wide world of Americana. There was an oversized Polo Sport rugby shirt, baggy jeans, toques perched perilously on top of heads, and tiny sunglasses. One model had a tartan scarf knotted around the upturned hood of his sweatshirt—a dead giveaway of a babyfaced menswear influencer. Courtesy of Ralph Lauren Courtesy of Ralph Lauren As Lauren put it to GQ in an exclusive statement, “What makes American style so enduring …

20 Best Men’s Clothing Brands for Affordable Wardrobe Staples in 2026

20 Best Men’s Clothing Brands for Affordable Wardrobe Staples in 2026

Published by Jenni Sidey

Whether you’re a seasoned fashion vet or rolling up fresh-faced to the menswear table, basics are the foundation of every great wardrobe. Yes, the best men’s clothing brands are paid to push things forward, but before you get there, you need to start from square one. And honestly, we GQ editors probably spend more time focusing on the fundamentals—plain white tees, the perfect bodega-run sweatshirt, a roomy pair of chinos—than we actually do chasing the next new look. Tees, sweatshirts, slacks, underwear: These are the mitochondria of your wardrobe, the powerhouses that keep your style stable season to season, year after year. They’re also the pieces every brand makes, which can make choosing the right basics supplier a minor existential crisis. To help, we gathered the best men’s clothing brands to stock up on right now: 20 brands that consistently deliver unbeatable value, craftsmanship, and versatility. The Not-So-Basic Basics Hit List The Plain White Tee Merz B. Schwanen Organic Cotton Tee Read more The Lightweight Crewneck Alex Mill Reverse Seam Crew In Wool Cotton Read …