PoloFest Exceeded Everyone’s Expectations

I was invited to attend, where I reconnected with fellow menswear editors and experts, talked clothes and bought a few vintage pieces myself. Call it an occupational hazard. But for all the temptation on the racks, watching what people wore was much more satisfying. Give a crowd like this an occasion to pull out the good stuff and they will deliver.

Officially, PoloFest was being held in celebration of 50 years of Polo in Japan. But it was more than just an archival exhibition, with interesting panel discussions held throughout the days and a vintage marketplace bringing together nearly two dozen dealers from around the world. There was plenty to covet, from classic tailoring to colorful Polo Sport pieces and rugged (and rare) Polo Country gear. It was a reminder of just how much ground Ralph Lauren has covered, and how much of it still looks good.

Call it the Polo Cinematic Universe. There’s the collegiate chapter, all rumpled Oxfords, rugby shirts and chinos. The Western one, with denim, leather and the suggestion that you know your way around a horse. The sailing weekends. The country estates. The bright, graphic sportswear that found another life on city streets. Each has its own wardrobe and atmosphere, yet somehow they all belong to the same world. You can move between them, too. Which is what makes it so much fun.

Somewhere on the second day, I realized Tokyo was the perfect place to appreciate all of it. Among the city’s menswear enthusiasts, caring about clothes can be a serious pursuit without taking the pleasure out of getting dressed. There’s room to develop strong opinions about a shirt collar or spend years tracking down a particular jacket. Knowing more makes the hunt better. And this is a city known for its exceptional vintage shopping, due to the care people take with their garments.

And that kind of enthusiasm gets wonderfully specific in Japan. Consider PoloFest participant Yoshihito Murayama, whose Koenji shop, Safari, takes its name from Ricky Lauren’s 1989 book about her travels in Africa. Or Tez Saito of Reflex in Tokyo’s Nakameguro neighborhood. A former Ralph Lauren employee who has spent four decades collecting the brand. These are people who have followed an interest far enough to build a life around it. This festival gave the rest of us a chance to browse the results.

“I think many Japanese people want to express something here in Japan that evokes their image of the American dream,” said Shuhei Nishiguchi, fashion director at Beams. That personal interpretation is what makes such an identifiable brand so surprisingly versatile. The best dressers at PoloFest bought into the romance while bringing their own ideas to the clothes. The layering might be elaborate, but the result felt easy. It made me want to look a little longer, figure out the proportions and remember a combination to try later. That’s the power of a really good outfit.

The festival’s “Reimagined collection” took that same instinct even further. Japanese artisans, including Yui Narita of BROWNTABBYWORKS and Mitsugu Sasaki, reworked familiar Polo pieces with patchwork, embroidery and traditional sashiko repair techniques. It was a fitting meeting of Ralph’s affection for well-worn clothes and Japan’s philosophy of never letting things go to waste.

I came home with a few vintage finds, but also some fresh enthusiasm for what was already in my closet. Seeing people have that much fun getting dressed will do that. Suddenly, the jacket you haven’t worn in a while deserves another outing. The tie feels less like a commitment. And trying one more layer seems like a damn good idea.