Too Big To Fail: RRL

Built to last, from the beginning

Ralph Lauren once famously declared that he designs dreams, not clothes; RRL is one slice of Lauren’s dream, presented in a wearable frontier uniform. When you think of the iconic American brand, timeless style and iconic branding seem to conjure images of American wardrobe classics like the oxford and polo shirts, introduced and/or perfected by Ralph Lauren, but the global brand offers more than just closet staples. Double RL, or RRL, is Ralph Lauren’s luxurious, western influenced sub-brand whose name comes from the eponymous founder’s 22,000 acre ranch in Colorado. The brand replicates vintage Americana better than most, constructing its reproductions to the most minute detail and specification. Double RL is famous for its merchandising and store designs, whose Old West charm has drawn customers from near and far, epitomizing Lauren’s vision in creating a lifestyle around the brand. Furnished with vintage southwestern blankets, lived in leather sofas, antique woodwork and vintage reference pieces hanging throughout the store, from 60s yellowed Rolexes to 50s distressed Lee Rider Jackets, Double RL is the prime example of a brand identity that amplifies and authenticates the brand’s offerings. The brand is widely recognized for its painstakingly accurate denim reproductions, and their commitment to creating a wearable, vintage inspired western wardrobe gets stronger with each collection. Referencing and recreating vintage workwear garments with the world’s best textiles and production methods, Double RL’s worn-in flannels, durable waffle base layers, plush loop wheel sweats and hand-knit cardigans are amuse-bouches to the American behemoth Ralph Lauren’s sub-brand’s main course: denim.

Denim History 101

Denim has a long history in American workwear, dating back to the mid to late 1800s, when Levi Strauss began to import the newly introduced fabric to America for its hard wearing, sturdy properties, hoping it would become the uniform of choice for farmers, ranchers, and rail workers in the West. Strauss was a smart man. Jacob W. Davis, a customer of Strauss’, who initially used the denim fabric to produce rugged items like wagon covers and tents, was later commissioned by a gold mining company to create work trousers from the fabric that could withstand hard work. Adding metal rivets to the denim fabric, Davis strengthened the denim and forged a partnership with Levi Strauss, together patenting their invention in 1873.

Denim and workwear became synonymous in the decades following the durable cloth’s birth, bringing great success to the Levi’s brand, but also giving rise to many competitors, namely Wrangler in 1905, and Lee in 1911. Denim continued to be worn almost exclusively for labor but eventually became fashionable in leisure-wear in the 1950s, in part due to the addition of the zipper which allowed for easier, more comfortable wear. The workwear trousers were largely popularized by film icons like Marlin Brando and James Dean through cult classic movies like ‘The Wild One’ and ‘Rebel without a Cause’, whose title bad boy characters gave jeans a rugged, “cool” factor.

Ralph Lauren grew up admiring Dean and Brando, as most kids of the 50s and 60s had, fantasizing about their unmistakable swagger and rugged characters, almost always donning a pair of hard wearing jeans. Lauren’s influence from these early adopters of the workwear staple is evident in his personal style and RRL’s fusion of historically accurate workwear Americana and 50s-60s style. The line has drawn somewhat of a cult like following in the past decade or so, capturing the allure and romance of the Old West, harmonizing historical references in a bluesy tune that personifies every pair of denim the brand produces.

RRL Denim Highlights

RRL denim is pricey to say the least, but the label’s strict adherence to workwear references and commitment to using the world’s best textiles and production methods make the brand one worth investing in (think cost per wear). They offer jeans ranging from $195-$499 in all washes, fits and levels of distressing, but a style I wanted to highlight is one that has made RRL denim particularly sought after, their East-West Selvedge pairs. While this fabrication comes in a few fits and washes, all RRL East-West Selvedge is made in America from Tennessee-grown cotton, whose yarn is ring spun and rope-dyed in Japan using natural indigo, a craft perfected in the country, that is finally woven on vintage shuttle looms to create a right hand twill exclusive to RRL. This specific pair’s ultra relaxed fit and selvedge construction is inspired by 1930s denim styles, constructed from raw materials that have literally traveled East to West, from the US to Japan and back, in order to create the most accurate replica of ~100 year old denim.

A personal favorite wash and cut is the Slim Fit Hillsview Selvedge Jean, whose raw materials have accrued the same mileage as the pair above, to create this perfectly worn in pair of selvedge denim. This pair is hand finished, upon its arrival back in the US, in a process that involves up to 50 individual steps using specialized tools and techniques to create a truly unique, lived in appearance.

In addition to its year round offerings, RRL often produces limited edition styles utilizing new fabrics or referencing more niche historical pairs. This straight fitting pair, for example, uses a 14 oz. Japanese selvedge nep denim, with a whimsical Western-inspired chain-stitched motif around the front pockets. This pair’s textured neppy fabric gives the appearance of a snowy cloth, woven in such a way that some of the cotton literally protrudes from the main surface. This pair is actually 10% linen, whose light, yet durable properties give the main surface of the jeans an even more textured hand feel, that will wear in differently than most selvedge denim.