For the first time in history, Ralph Lauren‘s iconic, glamorous, and classic fashions graced the runways of Paris at the L’École des Beaux-Arts. The venue chosen has a special meaning to the Ralph Lauren family…with a commitment to philanthropy and a love of Paris, the Ralph Lauren Corporation was devoted to the restoration of France’s national school of fine arts, the L’Ecole de Beaux-Arts’s historic Amphitheatre d’honneur. We were so fortunate to see the renovations in progress and take a tour of this breathtaking complex of historic and artist buildings. Renovating and preserving Parisian landmarks is not new to Mr. Lauren…as you may recall, the spectacular 17th century former hotel where we danced, dined, and fulfilled so many of my French-American fantasies has a similar story.

It was such an honor to see one of my favorite designers, a man who has sculpted the world in which I live to dream and dream to live, have this moment in Paris. Afterwards when he was asked, “Why Paris? Why the arts?”, he said, “My father was an artist. He worked hard in New York, most people didn’t know that but he was. He didn’t have a steady job but he worked hard. So that’s why I decided to work with the Beaux Arts, so I can hopefully get a diploma.”

The Ralph Lauren Fall 2013 collection, from Paris for the good of art ~