Ralph Lauren marks 40 years in fashion

Lauren sauntered down the runway at a tent erected just outside the Conservatory Gardens in Manhattan's Central Park to Frank Sinatra's 'The Best Is Yet To Come.' A crowd that included Sarah Jessica Parker, Martha Stewart, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters gave the designer a standing ovation. Fellow top-tier designers Donna Karan, Carolina Herrera, Diane von Furstenberg and Vera Wang, who once worked for Lauren, also were at the black-tie event.
The theme of the spring collection, debuting during New York Fashion Week, was a day at the races. Some models wore oversized hats with garden-party dresses — one of the best being a pale-blue floral printed silk plisse gown with a halter neckline and ruffled jabot — while others wore menswear-style jackets, ascots and tailored trousers. Spatlike shoes completed the look.
The jockeys were even represented with crystal-embellished jodhpurs, a yellow jersey dress with an equestrian print, and a bright pink equestrian-print taffeta jacket with splashes of blue, white, green and yellow, and a peplum at the hip.
Spring '08 features more colors than Lauren has shown in years.