Ralph Lauren and Oprah:

A Chat (and Party) with Two Titans

It’s not every night you have two of our generation’s biggest household names in one room. Oprah, she of talk show and now OWN network fame, sat down with Lauren, fashion titan, for cocktails, conversation and then a full-on gala that brought in an impressive $7 million on Monday night. Held at Lincoln Center, the event funds raised went to The Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

With such an intersection of fashion and media, you would expect nothing less than some of NYC’s finest. Michael J. Fox and wife Tracy Pollan rubbed shoulders with Anderson Cooper and Brian Williams.  While in the fashion contingent, a fleet of stylish ladies including Naomi Watts, Camilla Belle, Veronica Webb and Jessica Alba were dressed in Ralph Lauren, naturally.

It being Oprah’s specialty, she led the onstage conversation covering topics. Dressed in red portrait neckline dress, she peppered Lauren with questions that he answered deftly and with charm to spare.

When Oprah asked, “How do you keep reinventing?,” Lauren responded, “You copy. Forty-five years of copying, that’s why I’m here.”

To cap it all off before heading into dinner, the finale was a re-showing of his Spring 2012 collection.

All photos: Getty Images, courtesy of Ralph Lauren

By: Bee-Shyuan Chang

@beeshyuanchang