Ralph Lauren’s new Rue Bohème collection brings the history, artistry, and romance of an artist’s loft on the Left Bank within your grasp
Von Andrew Craig
If you happen to find yourself in Paris, strolling through the Left Bank, and step inside the handsome porte cochère of 173 Boulevard Saint-Germain, you’ll quickly find yourself immersed into the historic world of one of Paris’ most stunning hôtels particuliers—the home to Ralph Lauren’s flagship maison in the City of Lights. Built in the mid-1600s, the classical limestone building is a historically preserved and faithfully restored example of classical French architecture, with finishes ranging from rough limestone pavers and aged French white-oak paneling to Versailles-style parquet flooring and carved moldings.
Its location, in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood of the culturally rich Rive Gauche, is no coincidence. While its intellectual and artistic regulars of the early-to-mid-20th century—Beauvoir, Sartre, Hemingway, Giacometti, Truffaut—made the 6th arrondissement famous, its history of artistry stretches further back, to an era when it served as a manufacturing hub and commercial destination for some of the world’s finest textiles. In those days, these streets housed luxury mills that produced exquisite fabrics for both the interior design and fashion industries that helped establish Paris as a capital of incomparable taste.
Every year in January, Paris Déco Off, an immersive trade show of luxury fabrics and home goods, spreads through the 6th and beyond as a way of bringing this history back to life. At this year’s event, Ralph Lauren Home unveiled its new spring collection, a handsome, historically inspired array aptly named Rue Bohème, which includes classic ticking stripes in dense fine cotton, delicate botanical designs embroidered on linen, painterly florals with a washed feel, and more.
The collection is rendered in shades that reflect the Haussmann-era hues of Paris, with its limestone buildings and weathered zinc roofs: indigo, chambray, cream, and white. But Ralph, of course, has made it his own, using his unparalleled eye for layering to create a striking sense of charm, mixing soft with sturdy, and refined with rugged. The result includes lushly painted peonies set on a ground of textured chambray; an oversize floral toile overdyed into deep, complex shades of indigo; a weathered rose print in soft blue and white that is quiet and feminine; and a dramatic textured velvet in hues of navy that is reminiscent of a painter’s drop cloth. If there’s one particular standout, it might just be a floral jacquard inspired by a pair of jeans given the same treatment from last spring’s Ralph Lauren Collection, a rare meeting of Ralph’s runway designs and elegant home offerings. Similarly special is an heirloom-quality floral embroidery—inspired by a centuries-old French sample—in tonal blues and stitched using a unique technique that lends an aged, vintage feel to a gauzy bisque-colored ground. Taken all together, the collection evokes a distressed, mysterious, and bohemian air, as if layer after layer of vintage textiles were discovered in the forgotten attic of a Parisian atelier.
At Ralph’s, the intimate wood-paneled restaurant located on the ground floor of the Saint Germain flagship, friends and guests recently gathered to celebrate this year’s Paris Déco Off. On a tablescape of ticking stripes, jacquard florals, and indigo chambray, dinner was served with layered Ralph Lauren x Burleigh place settings in navy floral motifs—the perfect complement to Rue Bohème’s shades of old-world blue. To create your own perfect tableau of Left Bank glamour, look for the collection of rich and romantic fabrics this spring at select Ralph Lauren flagship stores, the Home Atelier at Palazzo Ralph Lauren in Milan, and Ralph Lauren Home partners in the US and Europe.
ANDREW CRAIG is the former men’s content editor for Ralph Lauren.
