There are moments when a collection is not just presented: it feels like a cultural event. Last Friday, January 16, in the middle of the Milan Men's Fashion Week calendar, Ralph Lauren put his name back at the center of creative dialogue with a presentation that many had been waiting for for years. More than twenty seasons had passed since the American house last presented a men's collection exclusively in Milan, a gesture that marks both the weight of its history and its willingness to speak to the present.
The Fall/Winter 2026 collection presented itself as an exercise in confidence. Confidence in codes that don't need to be explained and in a way of understanding menswear where style doesn't respond to accelerated trends, but to recognizable ways of life. Esdemarca was there to observe it closely and tell it with perspective.
ESD MAGAZINE
By: Sergi Pijoan (Esdemarca Brand Manager)
Palazzo Ralph Lauren: a setting with memory and presence
The show took place at the Palazzo Ralph Lauren, the historic headquarters of the brand in Milan since the late nineties. A space that doesn't function as a simple architectural container, but as a physical extension of the brand's universe. Its classic proportions, the sobriety of the interiors and the contained atmosphere reinforced the character of a collection designed to be observed calmly.
There was no unnecessary artifice. The environment accompanied the clothes, allowing each exit to be read with clarity, texture and visual weight. The message was evident: here attention is on the garments, on how they fall, how they move and how they are constructed.
As the designer himself expressed in the text that accompanied the presentation:
"I started with a tie, but it was never just about a tie, but a way of life. When I began designing men's fashion, I was drawn to the timeless elements of tradition, but I never bound myself to them. The essence of what I do lies in the many styles and moods I create. My Fall 2026 collections are inspired by the different ways men live, their individuality and personal style..."
This phrase, more than a statement, serves as a narrative compass: the collection doesn't seek to impose a style, but to explore the way style lives in the one who wears it.
For Esdemarca, being present at Milan Men’s Fashion Week is not a symbolic gesture, but the natural result of a relationship built on trust and ongoing collaboration with leading international fashion houses. The presence of Esteban Blázquez, CEO of Esdemarca, and Aníbal Blázquez, Partner & Purchasing Manager, directly invited by Ralph Lauren, reinforces this bond and confirms Esdemarca’s position within the premium fashion ecosystem. Experiencing it firsthand is not just about attending a runway show: it means being part of the conversation, accessing the creative vision from within, and sharing that experience with those who trust Esdemarca as a curated authority and reference platform.
The FW26 collection: layers, character and a functional elegance
The Fall/Winter 2026 proposal was articulated from a clear idea: dressing real life with aesthetic precision. The runway alternated looks from Polo Ralph Lauren and Purple Label, generating a rhythm that oscillated between elevated everyday wear and maximum-demand tailoring.
In Polo, the collection bet on well-constructed layers: enveloping coats, structured parkas, generous knitwear and pieces inspired by classic American sportswear. Rugby-style jerseys, garments with university references and wide pants coexisted with robust fabrics and finishes designed for daily use, without losing sophistication.
Purple Label, for its part, introduced a more refined reading of winter: impeccably made suits, long coats with clean lines, structured jackets and extreme attention to cut and fabric. Here elegance was not decorative, but functional and silent, designed to accompany movement, not to immobilize it.
The color palette reinforced that feeling of depth: earthy browns, dark greens, deep blues, warm beiges and natural shades that evoked winter landscapes. There were no chromatic stridencies; everything was designed to build a coherent, recognizable and durable wardrobe.
There were nods to the brand's historical weight and its ability to continue connecting with very different audiences, from those who recognize its classic codes to new generations who approach them from contemporary culture.
Among the most commented pieces stood out the coats of great presence, conceived as the axis of the look, the thick knit with a very marked visual and tactile weight, and references to the American imaginary (workwear, outdoor and campus) treated with fully contemporary precision. The collection advanced without surprises, but with constant confidence: each look made sense on its own and within the whole.
The atmosphere of the show confirmed the transversal reach of the proposal. In the front row were figures like Colman Domingo, Liam Hemsworth, Noah Schnapp, Nick Jonas or Tom Hiddleston, reflecting that natural intersection between fashion, film and culture that Ralph Lauren has handled with ease for decades.
A look that crosses eras
Ralph Lauren's Fall/Winter 2026 doesn't feel like an isolated return, but as one more piece within a broader narrative about how contemporary fashion reinterprets its own legacy. It's not about nostalgia or purism, but about a conscious dialogue between what we were, what we are and what we could be.
Seeing a collection like this in Milan, in a setting like the Palazzo Ralph Lauren, reminds us that great style visions are not limited to a runway, a season or an event: they are sustained in the way they resonate with those who observe, interpret and live them.
Ralph Lauren FW26 invites us to think of style as a living gesture: not as a unique statement, but as a conversation between past and present, between tradition and reinvention. If there's something this collection demonstrates, it's that good style never anchors itself, it always evolves.
Discover on our Instagram the closing of the show with all the pieces from the FW26 collection, directly from the Milan runway, and delve into the details that make it unique.
Image and vídeo credits: Esdemarca
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