French President Decorates ‘Profoundly American Designer’ Ralph Lauren

“You incarnate the American spirit,” French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday night in Paris, his captivating gaze trained intently on Ralph Lauren.
An orator extraordinaire, the politician coaxed many tears during his 20-minute speech, praising the American designer’s “timeless elegance,” family values, and a style that has “the perfume of eternity” before pinning the red medallion signifying Lauren’s latest award of merit from the French state: Officer of the Legion of Honor.
Plenty of bold-faced names roamed the gilded halls of the presidential palace that night, for legendary French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and film director Robert Hossein were also decorated. These included the dashing Jean Dujardin, who won the Oscar for best actor in 2011 for silent movie “The Artist.”
Among those who came to cheer Lauren was Nathalie Rykiel, who related that her late mother, Sonia Rykiel, slept only in Ralph Lauren bedding, and that she sometimes dons cashmere sweaters from Polo. “He is so faithful to himself, to an image, to a country, and what he believes in,” she enthused.
Rykiel let slip she was heading to New York next month to speak at a FIAF French Institute Alliance Française event in New York. She’s also finishing up her second book. “It

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More…