Polo Ralph Lauren's Oak Bluffs Summer 2025 Ad Campaign

Review of Polo Ralph Lauren’s Oak Bluffs Summer 2025 Ad Campaign by Creative Director James Jeter, with Photographer Nadine Ijewere, with models Aaliyah Hydes, Aya Jones, Jecardi Sykes, and Samuel Elie

Polo Ralph Lauren’s “Oak Bluffs” 2025 campaign is a poignant reminder that heritage, when honored with grace and authenticity, can be every bit as stylish as it is significant. Shot by Nadine Ijewere under the creative direction of James Jeter, the images carry us to Martha’s Vineyard’s Oak Bluffs—a seaside enclave with more than a century of history as a haven for Black excellence, community, and leisure. In a fashion landscape often guilty of surface-level storytelling, Ralph Lauren wisely opts for depth, grounding this collection in cultural truth while still delivering on aspirational Americana. Call it prep with purpose.

The imagery is a tapestry of porch gatherings, tennis whites, and windswept seaside moments, each scene drenched in the gentle nostalgia of summers spent with family and community. Collegiate crests sit comfortably alongside striped knits and salt-faded sweatshirts, a sartorial blend of campus pride and coastal ease. It’s the kind of styling that feels both cinematic and deeply lived-in—the kind of wardrobe that belongs to people, not mannequins. Nadine Ijewere’s lens heightens this intimacy, capturing quiet intergenerational gestures, like a grandfather straightening a young boy’s bow tie, alongside exuberant group portraits that radiate togetherness.

Where the campaign shines most is in its ability to straddle heritage and modernity. Ralph Lauren’s design lexicon—sweaters, blazers, nautical stripes, quilted jackets—remains intact, but here it’s reframed through Oak Bluffs’ story. The quilted patchwork jackets and gingham finishes aren’t just Americana tropes; they are nods to preservation, continuity, and craft. The Morehouse and Spelman motifs woven into the collection expand the narrative beyond place, rooting it firmly in the lived traditions of historically Black colleges and universities. It’s Ralph Lauren at his best: creating clothes that whisper of legacy while still inviting new generations to step in.

There is, of course, a balancing act. Ralph Lauren’s brand DNA is built on idealized visions of American life, often from a vantage point far removed from the communities it references. Here, however, the collaboration feels genuinely earned.

The involvement of Morehouse and Spelman alumni, The Cottagers Inc., and cultural institutions such as the Smithsonian anchors the campaign in authenticity rather than appropriation.

Still, one could argue the visuals lean into idealization—everyone impeccably dressed, the porches too pristine—but isn’t that the essence of Ralph Lauren? This is less about journalistic realism than about aspirational homage, and in that respect, it succeeds beautifully.

The real triumph lies in Polo Ralph Lauren’s decision to platform a place like Oak Bluffs, weaving it into the broader fabric of the American story it has spent decades mythologizing. It is a wise and culturally resonant move: expanding the definition of Americana to embrace Black joy, legacy, and community, not as an adjunct but as central to the narrative. In an industry often too quick to chase trends or tokenize, this campaign feels like a lesson in how to honor cultural memory with style and respect.

Oak Bluffs may be a small town, but in Ralph Lauren’s hands, it becomes a stage for something much bigger: an invitation to consider heritage as the most timeless accessory of all. And if one is going to mythologize the porch, the tennis court, and the windswept shore, it feels right that this time the story told is one that has long deserved the spotlight.