The lavish 50th anniversary show of Ralph Lauren was the great American dream merchant

NEW YORK – At the end of his 50th anniversary show at Central Park, Ralph Lauren cried and the audience rose and applauded. At the beginning of the elegant dinner that followed, Oprah Winfrey grilled the powerful symbolism imbued with her work, reflecting not only her own American success but also that of so many others. By the time the guests made their way to the foggy lights of the city, they had the undeniable sense of size, definition and magnetics of fashion.

Lauren has long said that he was not interested in creating clothes that come and go in style. There is of course a difference between a garment that always seems timeless and a garment that seems to exist in a bubble. Lauren did not always make that distinction. He has a studied approach to the style – the jeans have been destroyed to this point, the collar has tipped to a prescribed angle, the boots have been altered but not scuffed, the stubborn beard of the model has reached a precise shadow at 17:01. If there is any ease on its track, it's often the conscious kind, as if the models were saying silently: breathe, exhale, smile, swing your arms now.

[It’s 2018, Ralph Lauren. Why do you think this look is still cool?]

Friday night was another story. Perhaps it was the joy of the occasion, or perhaps the magnitude of the show during the fashion week of this city prevented it from being so tense? Perhaps it was the range of models – from gray-haired men and women to children to a sleeping toddler – who were injecting energy and humanity. Men with graying hair and flowing hair were sporting giant tweed blazers and mountain hats. Agile young women strolled in silver-fringed skirts and round-neck sweaters. Jeans and black tie, cowboy style in the city. Costumes for life, yes. But it looked like a life that we could want to live.

Ralph Lauren Fall 2018. (Photo by Jonas Gustavsson / MCV for the Washington Post)

It was impossible to absorb the infinite details of nubby sewing, patchwork velvets, leather bombers, ski jackets, flannel shirts, denim overalls, cardigans of the time and charming kids clothing. Christmas card.

These clothes were inviting, ambitious and beautifully made. And although they did not innovate, they emphasized what has already been built. It was impossible not to marvel at this feat of construction – a fashion house erected on stubborn optimism about the power of clothing.

The story told by Lauren over the Bethesda Terrace models was one of breadth, depth, and influence. It was what we are looking for professionally; how we aspire to belong; our passion for the freedom of the great sky; and our enduring belief in the promise of bootstrap capitalism. His work ranges from the formality of banker's stripes to lumberjack's planks. And it was invigorating to see him en masse, as a universe encompassing everything.

The show was less about clothes and more about the story. It was an evaluation of a long-standing history of American fashion as a business and part of our popular culture.

Animators and business magnates, media titans and politicians have all stepped in to honor Lauren, generations and different races. Hillary Clinton, Steven Spielberg, Chance the Rapper, Priyanka Chopra, Jessica Chastain, Robert Deniro, Bruce Springsteen, Ellis Ross Tracee, Tony Bennett, Kanye West, Iman, Anne Hathaway, Lauren's family and, of course, Winfrey.

Among the guests were the many designers who worked for Lauren, who were inspired by him or who simply admired his philosophy: John Varvatos, Jeffrey Banks, Thom Browne, Carolina Herrera, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan.

The public defines what is Ralph Lauren: a dream factory, a publicly traded company of one billion dollars, one of the original pillars of Seventh Avenue, a philanthropic organization, a cornerstone cultural, a husband, a father and a Bronx man for cinema, the usual human insecurities and an abundance of ambition.

Jessica Chastain talks before the start of Ralph Lauren's show. (Diane Bondareff / AP)

In her toast to the designer, Winfrey described an early moment in her professional life when she began to feel that she was making progress in her career. She came in his. She was making money. So she tidied her bathroom with Ralph Lauren bath towels – not bath towels, but luxurious and generous bath sheets. They symbolized having accomplished something, having won a place, perhaps just, in the American club of success.

The night took place with a cinematic impulse. The guests arrived at the entrance to Central Park where they boarded small white wagons that crossed the park, passed by curious joggers and dog walkers up to the entrance to Bethesda Terrace where they disembarked in tuxedos and evening gowns. The entrance was brilliant with the LED screens projecting images of Lauren's work, which is basically the story of all things in our wardrobe that we consider to be typically American: jeans and polos , buttoned oxfords, round neck sweaters, western jackets and cowboy boots and flannel shirts. Lauren did not invent them; but he transformed them into a coherent vocabulary that allowed us to describe a collective aesthetic identity. He gave us a national uniform.

Guests attend a dinner at Central Park after Ralph Lauren's 50th birthday show. (Diane Bondareff / AP)

The old images reminded guests that he had brought racial diversity to his parade – and to his publicity – before becoming a rallying cry long before there was social media and the ability to tweet a business for that she be subject.

The waiters served cocktails, the guests mingled and the rain fell until everyone sat down to dine under rows of white canvas umbrellas. There was filet mignon was Lauren's ranch, mini chocolate cakes and lime cake for dessert. And in the distance, a view of this city that recalled why Hollywood, the dreamers of small towns and ambitious enthusiasts can not get rid of its charm.

For any American company, 50 years is something to celebrate. For a fashion company, it's remarkable, especially because Lauren stays at the helm. For years, American fashion has been defined by Ralph, Calvin and Donna. Calvin Klein has long sold his business. Donna Karan has also evolved and the collection has been closed by its owners. Other monumental names such as Oscar de la Renta and Bill Blass have died and the legacy of their marks remains to be determined.

Ralph does not just stay. He continues to dream.

Everyone laughed at Thom Browne's short pants. Now they have made him very rich.