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On the Glossy Podcast, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi and international reporter Zofia Zwieglinska break down some of the biggest fashion news of the week.
This week, we’re talking about a French investigation into the European resale company Vinted, which regulators said hasn’t done enough to prevent minors using its platform from accessing sexual content. We also discuss the U.K. footwear brand Clark’s entering a number of lower-priced marketplaces, including Shein and TikTok Shop. And we talk about some of the interesting sales data from the pre-Black Friday shopping window.
Later in the episode, Zofia and our editor-in-chief, Jill Manoff, are joined by Preston Konrad, founder of the home and fragrance brand Preston Lane, to talk about the biggest holiday trend of the season: Ralph Lauren Christmas.
For months, social media has been awash in what people are calling Ralph Lauren Christmas, an aesthetic that takes 20th-century, New England-flavored inspiration from the design principles of Ralph Lauren for cozy holiday outfits and home decor. The aesthetic isn’t limited to Ralph Lauren — a number of home and fashion brands have showcased the look in their marketing as they try to capitalize on the trend.
Konrad is a former styling director for Ralph Lauren who worked for the brand for over five years. He shared with Jill and Zofia where the trend came from, what’s appealing about it and how other brands can get in on the hype. Below are a few excerpts from the conversation, lightly edited for length and clarity.
The cultural shift that enabled Ralph Lauren Christmas
“As someone with a lot of time under their belt at Ralph Lauren, I’ve been giving advice on TikTok and Instagram about how to get this look. And I have millions and millions of views on these videos. It’s great for me and my brand. But if you look at what’s happening, there’s this shift happening in fashion and beauty. In the 2010s, there was this flashy, loud, Balenciaga and Gucci aesthetic. And there’s been a shift to quiet luxury and this old money aesthetic. People are into cable knit, into wide-leg pants; people are discovering these classic, easy-to-wear styles that you can reinterpret every year. People want to feel old-school and classic.”
Attainable aesthetics
“It’s not really reinventing the wheel. Tartan plaid has been a Christmas motif forever. So it’s a lot of the signature cues. Tartan plaid, red ribbons, warm lights on a Christmas tree instead of colored blinking lights and slow Christmas jazz, not new Christmas pop. Imagine a plaid blanket on a brown leather chair. It’s actually really simple, if you think about it. People probably already have some simple elements in their attics. We used to just swap out the chandelier lampshades around Christmas with tartan plaid lampshades. It’s an easy swap.”
‘Everyone is nervous about spending money’
“There’s definitely an element of getting the same look for less money. You see a lot of this on TikTok. You go into a Home Goods or a TJ Maxx, and there are whole aisles of brass lamps with plaid lampshades. People are also going to eBay to find vintage Ralph Lauren pillows. Everybody is nervous about spending money right now, but some of these classic items, like a cable-knit sweater, you’ll have forever. People are trying to be cautious about spending, and this classic look reflects that.”
