I read somewhere recently that Ralph Lauren is going through a major resurgence, climbing up the list of most-talked about designer brands. And to that I say: hah, welcome to the club! I mean that; no sarcasm. I am not that person, because I don’t believe in gatekeeping and because there are plenty of people who have been riding the Ralph Lauren train for far longer than I have, whose knowledge far exceeds mine. Still, years of loving and buying and wearing the clothes have taught me a few things and – more pertinent to this post – given me many opinions. Which I am more than happy to share, thanks for asking.
To tell you the truth, this post was inspired by one of my pet peeves. All my pet peeves are petty, but this one is pettiest than most: I hate it when Poshmark sellers list something as “black label Ralph Lauren” when it is, in fact, a LAUREN Ralph Lauren item. Did I mention this is also an incredibly niche pet peeve? Let’s unpack, because some of you may be feeling a bit lost right now.
The Ralph Lauren universe includes a number of sub-brands, some of them still operational, some now defunct; these sub-brands are aimed at different segments of the market and sold at different price points. Most of them contain some combination of Ralph and Lauren in their name, so it can all become rather confusing. As a result, people sometimes use other monikers to differentiate sub-brands. The top of the line – aka the really fancy, expensive sh*t – is Ralph Lauren Collection (sometimes just plain Ralph Lauren) and colloquially referred to as “purple label” because its brand labels are, you guessed it, purple. There was, at one time, a similarly fancy Ralph Lauren line that had a black label, but as far as I know, it no longer exists. BUT! Current LAUREN Ralph Lauren (LRL) brand tags are also black, and it seems some resellers on Poshmark have taken to using “black label” in their LRL listings. This rubs me the wrong way because it’s disingenuous, whether intentionally or not. LRL is a diffusion brand, an order of magnitude lower than Ralph Lauren Collection in terms of price (and quality); a “purple label” item retails for 10 times the price of its LRL equivalent. Calling LRL “black label” makes it sound fancier than it is by association. Not to mention that it can be misleading to prospective buyers who have a vague idea that some Ralph Lauren labels are better than others – and colours have something to do with it – but are not super knowledgeable about the appearance of labels and what they denote.
And, look: I am not a stickler for naming accuracy. I call everything Ralph Lauren because I’m lazy, and I have no issue with other people being lazy too. If typing “LAUREN Ralph Lauren” in your listing title is too much work, write “Ralph Lauren” and be done with it. Just make sure that the rest of the listing is transparent about the actual sub-brand being sold; either put it in the description or include a photo of the brand tag. There is no excuse for writing “black label Ralph Lauren” – there’s a whole extra word so it’s not like it’s more efficient.
Well, I’m glad I got that off my chest.
However, this post wasn’t intended to be a rant. Rather, I want to share my personal opinions about the various Ralph Lauren sub-brands and show you how to identify them in the wild. The former may or may not be useful to you, but it’s the price of admission, sorry. My opinions are based on personal experiences with various clothing items I have come across at the thrifts and/or purchased for myself, so the list below is a not a ranking of all RL sub-brands, as there are several which I have never come across in real life. I have sorted it best to worst, and if your mileage varies, well … it’s a free world 🙂
- Ralph Lauren Collection (Purple Label)
I only have a couple of purple label pieces in my closet but can attest that they are, indeed, excellent quality. Both are made in the USA and the materials feel luxe (cashmere, silk, you get the idea).
2. Ralph Lauren Polo Country
RL Country was a diffusion line, similar to Polo, that sold from the late 80s through the mid-90s or thereabouts. The reason I am putting it so near the top of my list is because I am a huge fan of its aesthetic – heavily influenced by Papa Ralph’s southwest- and prairie-inspired early collections – and because of the excellent quality. The latter was largely a function of the brand’s timeline, rather than its exclusivity; things were simply better made in the 80s and 90s, even if they weren’t being made for the runway.
Some of my favourite RL items in my personal collection are from the Country line, and this is one of the brands I specifically search for on eBay. I have read that Country was the spiritual precursor of the Double RL (RRL) brand, which is Papa Ralph’s design baby. Double RL is about as exclusive and expensive as “purple label” with the added cachet of being the creative outlet of Papa Ralph’s personal style. I have yet to get my hands on any Double RL pieces, and they tend to be less accessible, price-wise, than Country, which is why I tend to focus my searches on the latter. But, word to the wise: Country is also getting increasingly pricey on the resale market. Le sigh.
3. Ralph Lauren / Polo Ralph Lauren (Blue Label)
I haven’t yet figured out if there is a significant difference between the tags that say only “Ralph Lauren” and the ones marked “Polo”. Both are blue, for what it’s worth. The quality seems similar between the two and is, overall, very good or excellent. This is true across all RL sub-brands, but the quality of vintage clothing (pre-2000) is – in many but not all cases – measurably better than current equivalents. For example: I recently thrifted a Polo men’s shirt of recent vintage (based on the label), and its material is noticeably thinner than that of my vintage Polo men’s shirts, even though they’re all cotton.
Here are a few of the “blue label” pieces in my closet:
4. “Big Label” LAUREN Ralph Lauren
We are getting into the weeds here, so bear with me. As one of the earliest diffusion lines, LRL offered the Ralph Lauren aesthetic at a more affordable price point – meaning that many pieces were near-dupes of designs included in the runway collections. Obviously, there was a difference in quality, but vintage LRL was good stuff. Really good stuff. Honestly, sometimes just as good as the “blue label”. Now, the quality of LRL – along with everything else in the fashion industry – has been declining steadily for decades, so it helps to have an easy way to spot items that might be worth more, quality-wise. This might be somewhat arbitrary, but what I look for is the big green LRL labels. You will better understand what I mean in a moment, but one way to tell what’s vintage LRL is to look at the “made in” tags. Pieces made in the USA, the Marianna Islands, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines are all likely to be pre-2000. By today’s standards, the quality is often on par with current Polo, or better.
4. (Tie) RALPH by Ralph Lauren
Shall we call this one the “plaid label”? I kid, I kid. RALPH was a short-lived diffusion line from the late 90s, aimed at a younger market. Most of the pieces I’ve seen have had a preppy vibe. In my admittedly limited (because this is a pretty rare sub-brand to find) experience, the quality is similar to LRL stuff from the same era. Worth noting that sizing might run a bit small, perhaps because of the youth market orientation.
5. Denim & Supply
Another now-defunct diffusion line, primarily known for denim, workwear and western-inspired clothing. Most of the pieces I’ve come across have been from the 2000-2015 era, and usually made in China. Quality is average. This is a brand I would buy for the aesthetic (if an item speaks to me), not the quality.
6. Other LAUREN Ralph Lauren
LRL labels have changed a number of times over the years, as you can see from the sampling above. After the big chunky green labels with woven lettering, there came the thin green labels with woven lettering. Followed by green labels with printed lettering and, finally, the aforementioned black labels. My personal ranking goes something like this:
Almost all of my LRL clothing is “big green label”, but I have one or two more recent pieces.
7. Chaps
This is an early diffusion line that was sold off many years ago, and which apparently hasn’t had any real connection to Ralph Lauren (the designer) since then. There had been a variety of different tags over the years, but newer ones only say “Chaps”. I don’t have a lot of first-hand experience with this sub-brand, but the internet doesn’t think highly of it. I’ve seen some cute pieces, but quality is meh. As in all things, the older clothing is probably better quality, but new stuff is definitely a level below current LRL.
I hope this meandering journey through the Ralph Lauren universe wasn’t entirely without interest, and good luck to my fellow RL-loving thrifters out there. May the odds be ever in your favour!