Japanese Artisans Reimagined Old Ralph Fits For PoloFest Tokyo

Few designers understand the beauty of well-aged fabrics as well as Ralph Lauren. Man’s been integrating elements of patchworking, mending, and embroidery into his namesake label for decades, long before it was trendy. As he put it so sagely in a statement this year, like a sartorial Yoda: “Where wear becomes character, repair becomes art, and every stitch creates a new patina.”

Considering the designer’s reverence for well-loved clothes, it was fitting that one of the first things we found at the inaugural PoloFest — a three-day celebration of all things Polo Ralph Lauren, happening right now in Tokyo — was the standout Reimagined collection.

Here, a group of Japanese artisans used traditional mending techniques to breathe new life into classic Polo silhouettes, from a pair of classic chinos embroidered with a pattern of smiley face emojis to a series of patchworked ties and hats so completely cobbled together that their entire texture changed into something far lumpier and more interesting than the objects they started as. There’s even a clever row of beat-up denim baseball caps, each stitched with a single red felt letter spelling out what else but… R-A-L-P-H. 

Like the disparate fabric scraps they pulled from, the craftspeople themselves are their own kind of mosaic. Pieces by Yui Narita, founder of Osaka vintage store Brown Tabby Works and prolific restorer of classic utility clothes, sat alongside ones by Mitsugu Sasaki, whose Sasaki Yōhinten workshop specializes in repairing noragi (traditional farmwear) in the spirit of boro, the Japanese practice of reviving worn clothes with layers of hand-sewn patches. 

The allure of time-tested clothing isn’t just in seeing a patina develop; it's in patching up something that’s seen so much of you and the world. These Reimagined pieces don’t just extend the life cycle of fabric and clothes that might’ve been tossed out; they also document Ralph Lauren's history and the legacy of Japanese craftsmanship.

Turns out the best of the best at PoloFest (thus far) has already been worn, and will be worn again. Each piece is part of a raffle, with all the proceeds going to Lauren’s Pink Pony initiative to fight cancer — making this one of the few contests where you already know the prize only gets better with age. 

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