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Gender and Desire in Polo Ralph Lauren, continued... The Heterosexual Project Regarding my third point, Ralph Lauren has indicated in at least one interview that he dislikes being called a "designer." As one interviewer noted, "His problem is that he so despises the connotations of the word he simply can't bring himself to remember its proper spelling" (emphasis added). (49) I suggest that one of the "connotations" to which the reporter refers may be fashion design's perception by some as a frivolous and effeminate profession. (This is not to say, of course, that Lauren is homophobic. However, what this statement does suggest is Lauren's possible unwillingness to be perceived by the public as effeminate.) Also, there are many articles about and interviews with Ralph Lauren in which his own heterosexuality is discussed. (50) Although Lauren's sexuality is certainly not in itself an indicator of a heterosexual advertising project, I do believe that, when considered with the other points mentioned here, it adds to the possibility that Polo Ralph Lauren assumes a heterosexual viewer for its advertisements. This statement brings me to my final point about Polo Ralph Lauren's heterosexual project. The fact that Polo Ralph Lauren's collections have been the source of much amusement and parody among gay men suggests to me that it is Polo Ralph Lauren's intention to project an image of heterosexuality in his advertisements. Heterosexuality is parodied because it is asserted (by many heterosexuals) as the only natural form of sexuality. Understandably, many homosexuals find fault with this assertion, and parody (through performance) is one way of airing these concerns. For example, in the documentary film, Paris is Burning, there is a scene in which two men "vogue" in what can best be described as "yacht-wear." They wear dark, navy suits and white "sea captain" hats that are reminiscent of some of Lauren's designs from the 1980s. (51) Yachting is certainly an upper-class pastime and one that, if I may make the unsupported leap, is not a sport practiced by many openly gay men. The point I make here is that were Lauren's advertisements more sexually ambiguous, like, for example, the advertisements of his contemporary and competitor, Calvin Klein, there would be far less room for such parody. Although the parodying of homosexuality by homosexuals certainly occurs, I believe that in the case of Polo Ralph Lauren, the parody is a critique of a heterosexual, not a homosexual, advertising project. The Advertisements I would now like to consider Polo Ralph Lauren's advertisements. Polo seems to favor two types of advertisement layouts: one that I will call the "suite," in which photographs of several men and women are arranged together in many settings, and on many glossy pages (his advertisements often run for ten to twelve consecutive pages in a magazine), and one that I will call the "solo," in which only a single model is featured on one or two pages. It is this latter format, the solo, that I think offers considerable sexual ambiguity, and that allows the most opportunities for pleasurable looking by a wide range of viewers. Interestingly, in many of these "solo" advertising campaigns, including the one that is the subject of this paper, Ralph Lauren himself is the model. The figure he portrays most frequently in these solo advertisements is the cowboy. Although I have included four images for purposes of comparison, the image on which I would like to focus is one that appeared in Vogue in September 1979 (Figure 1). The two-page advertisement features a man (Lauren) wearing a denim shirt (several buttons undone) over which he wears an unzipped vest (a down vest, perhaps), and a pair of denim jeans held up with a belt adorned with a large silver buckle. As he walks, the man smiles broadly at the viewer. In his left hand is a length of coiled, heavy rope. To the left of the figure is the statement, "It was made to be worn. The Ralph Lauren Western Collection for men and women." (52) |
