Ralph Lauren and the City of Shadows

I happened to be looking over the Autumn-Winter collection at Double RL (or RRL, named after the man Ralph Lauren’s ranch in Colorado) when I noticed they’d created a near facsimile of more than one photo from the ‘City of Shadows’ Sydney police mugshot collection. The image below was taken directly from the RRL site, and clearly a pastiche; the similarities are undeniable. The intention is to evoke an antique brand of Americana, from the 20s and 30s, back to the days of the old West. When trawling the planet for inspiration, it’s clear the RRL creative team were influenced by early 20th century police photographers from inner Sydney, Australia, who were responsible for the images immediately after. I don’t mind that their Americana comes with a dash of Australiana. Dare I say these old Aussies had more panache, which authenticity certainly affords them.

Spot the difference between 2011 and 1929…