Ralph Lauren attracts fashion fans to the horse metropolis of the Hamptons with a varied show of American fashion

BRIDGEHAMPTON, NY — BRIDGEHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Ralph Lauren headed to the horse country of the Hamptons to introduce his signature Americana fashions. His front row featured First Lady Jill Biden, Usher and Colman Domingo, and his runway featured Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington and a bevy of adorable children.

Horses and riders strolled behind a white picket fence in a nearby field at a posh equestrian complex in Bridgehampton on Thursday evening, while Lauren showed off crisp white tennis gear, baby blue dresses and jackets, and bright orange, green and yellow looks for men, women and the aforementioned toddlers.

The sun faded as the outdoor show came to a close and Lauren's guests headed to dinner at a pop-up of his legendary on-site restaurant, Polo Bar.

Lauren, who bowed next to Biden, has fond memories of the Hamptons, where he has a home and visited as a child. For his spring 2025 show, one day before New York Fashion Week officially begins, he chose Khalily Stables, a state-of-the-art, 19-acre equestrian facility with stables, barns, riding arenas and grass paddocks.

Lauren mixed his Ralph Lauren Collection, Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren and kidswear for an extra-long show that emphasized wearability on an evening of perfect weather transitioning from summer to fall.

There were picnic looks in pale blue dresses and white trousers and shorts, teamed with stripes and jackets. There were evening looks, including a stunning long rose-coloured beaded skirt that Campbell wore with a knotted white T-shirt.

For the men, Lauren offered skinny turn-up trousers, blue floral tuxedos and pops of colour in orange trousers, paired with navy blue jackets and wide, colourful ties over pinstripe shirts.

White and blue tones dominated, with a dash of crochet and khaki. He added some sparkle to skintight sequined evening gowns, backless white cocktail dresses and blue blouses, and added a little fairy dust to ripped khakis and other looks.

Lauren's offspring, from preschoolers to teenagers, were prepared for anything.

One wore white shorts and a green raincoat worthy of the US Open. The company had just sponsored the outfits of the ball crews and on-court umpires. Others wore tall riding boots with blue polo shirts and matching pants. Still more were little prepsters in pinstripe button-downs, navy jackets and short white pants.

The show, Usher mused afterwards, is “American life. This is American love. This is family.”

Another of Lauren's guests, Tom Hiddleston, agreed. “It's an extremely precise and intelligent vision because you kind of think: I want to be a part of this. I want to live this,” he said. “Very inspiring.”

Domingo added: “You literally saw people of all different colors, shapes and sizes and people who felt like they belonged and fit together.”

Fellow guest Jude Law summed it up as: “Striving for a better place.”

Lauren's guests also included Naomi Watts, Kasey Musgraves, Demi Singleton and Justin Theroux, as well as Kim Min-jeong, known as Winter, from the K-pop girl group Aespa.

In his show notes, Lauren said the Hamptons are “more than just a place. It's a natural world of endless blue skies, the ocean, green fields and white fences, rusticity and elegance with a quality of light that drew artists here decades ago.”

He called the summer oasis for New Yorkers like himself his second home, “my refuge and always an inspiration.” Perhaps Lauren has better luck with the travel gods who oversee New York traffic. Some of his city guests, who didn't have access to chartered helicopters, spent four hours stuck in traffic on the way to his show.

It was a successful year for the company. In addition to the US Open, Lauren also dressed the US team for the games in Paris.

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Associated Press video producer Brooke Lefferts contributed to this story.