The authentic and timeless world of Ralph Lauren
March 2025
RL/Men

Always On

When it’s hot and you’re ready to be out at the beach, these seven iconic Polo pieces are the ones to get.
Men Women
1/5
The Polo Shirt
In 1972, five years after launching Polo, Ralph Lauren put his indelible mark on a shirt that would eventually become a global icon of the brand. As a pullover, the polo shirt with a small “p” had been an enduring symbol of the American sporting life, but Ralph reimagined it according to his own standards of style, and the large-“p” Polo shirt has been a sensation worn the world over by men and women ever since.
Made with a breathable, combed-cotton mesh that has a pleasingly chalky texture, our Polo is designed to grow in character and softness with every wash. The ribbed collar is sturdily constructed: It can lay flat—or be popped—as you wish. And the top-applied placket testifies to its uncompromising construction. Even the buttons, cross-stitched with tonal thread to match an array of 32 available colors, are an indicator of our overall design philosophy that things should be made to last. The banded sleeves call back to the shirt’s athletic origins, while a side-vented tennis tail that’s a touch longer in the back allows it to be worn tucked, untucked, or somewhere in between. Just as vital is the perfection of the fit: a relaxed cut by which the women’s breezy, borrowed-from-the-boys appeal has been adapted just for her.
2/5
The Linen Shirt
“Guaranteed to wrinkle.” Those three words have long appeared below the label of our linen shirts. It’s not so much a care instruction as style advice, a poem extolling the idiosyncrasies and charms of the fabric itself. Linen has as rich and storied a history as just about any textile on earth, having been spun into fabric since the days of the pyramids. Made from the fibers of the flax plant, it is a performance fabric as designed by nature itself: breathable, moisture-wicking, and quick to dry. Wrinkles are expected with a fabric this light and airy; more than that, wrinkles are a sign of its quality.
Our linen shirt for men and women is made from no less than 100 percent linen. Ralph prefers it rumpled, lived in, nonchalant—the visual equivalent of a long holiday at the beach. For men, it’s been given a button-down collar; for women, a more relaxed point collar. Otherwise, both remain rooted in the classic hallmarks of Polo style and fit. Garment-dyed in bright, warm-weather hues, these are shirts also guaranteed to become more special with age.
3/5
The Double-Breasted Navy Blazer
While the history of the double-breasted navy blazer is rooted in the British Royal Navy, its modern iconography is wholly American—and distinctly Ralph Lauren. Jumping from Eton to New England, the sport coat’s prep-school status remains a hallmark of the look Ralph has given it, paired with everything from chinos to denim, oxfords to white tees, and even a ball cap or two.
The Polo navy blazer is a notably special version of its kind, instantly recognizable for its immaculate cut, worked and reworked over the years. The silhouette has been shaped with the precision of English tailoring—side vents and double-piped besom pockets, applied to both men’s and women’s silhouettes—and the ease of American sportiness, which gets expressed in the soft shoulder. The fabric, a nod to the jacket’s historical authenticity, is doeskin, a tightly milled wool known for its durability and elegance; when light hits it, the jacket shows with a lustrous richness. Long a dress code requirement of certain social-world establishments, the navy blazer now sets the tone wherever it goes, elevating the moment and the way you feel wearing it.
4/5
The Salinger Chino Pant
It’s just a pair of chinos. But not really. Its name, evoking course syllabi, rustling papers, and green campus lawns, is a hint towards its stylistic heritage: the G.I. pant. A simple garment designed for utility, it found a new purpose as collegiate apparel for first-time scholars who wore it with their navy blazers, oxford shirts, and repp ties to class, and with frayed sweatshirts and scuffed canvas sneakers on the weekend
Hardworking, easygoing, versatile: The Salinger embodies all of those virtues through a durable workwear construction composed of double-needle stitching and felled seams that help to hold its shape, a simple flat front without pleats, and a higher rise that sits where you want it to and complements tailoring or a tucked-in tee. The fit is straight so that it falls cleanly, never clinging to the leg nor appearing oversize. The fabric has a pleasing heft that you can feel but remains weighted for all-year wear. Historically, they’ve been referred to as “khakis” due to their most common color, and the Salinger comes in khaki—our khaki, the perfectly dusty, wear-with-everything shade. But there are other hues: navy, green, red, brown. Each as soft, faded, and nostalgic as the storied style warrants.
5/5
The Chambray Shirt
The name is French, stemming from the city of Cambrai, where it was prized by workmen for its tough-wearing utility and light weight. The chambray shirt today has become an Americana icon, with Polo’s version representing both the heroic heritage of American workwear and the enduring legacy of easygoing campus style. It is woven with special yarns that give it a crosshatched texture for extra dimension and character, and indigo-dyed so that its color has the same depth as your favorite, lived-in jeans..
It picks up patina from a stonewashing treatment that leaves each looking perfectly imperfect with a soft hand and comes out a crisp, clear blue that pairs effortlessly with everything from tweed jackets to denim. A button-down collar with the perfect roll and our Classic Fit—Polo’s roomiest, with a lower armhole and a fuller sleeve that rolls easily to the elbow—complete its air of honest, unstudied nonchalance. Capable of dressing up with a jacket and knit tie or being worn open over a favorite tee and sun-faded shorts, the chambray shirt can go most everywhere with most everything—and that’s why we continue to love it.