Over the years brands like Supreme, Clientele and most recently the ROHE Project have paid tribute to RL by re-creating some of the brands most iconic pieces from their back catalogs via small scale high quality limited releases. Still, there are so many incredible designs from Ralph Lauren during the 80’s and 90’s that are highly sought after (and super pricey) that its left many to wonder A.) Why Ralph Lauren hasn’t retro’d these designs and B.) Could any one brand live off doing it themselves. This brings us to the Lo Life Brand and its founder Thirstin Howl the 3rd.
If there is anyone that knows vintage Polo its the Polo Rican and so it makes sense that some of the earliest pieces that have been showcased on the brands IG account are heritage inspired remakes of older RL pieces. You might be surprised to learn however, that the Lo Life Brand will be MUCH more than just vintage Ralph inspired pieces. According to a recent Complex interview when asked if the brand will “be like a direct play on Polo like Raekwon’s Linx Beach jacket?” The Polo Rican replied “some of the pieces. But then there’s going to be a lot of stuff coming behind that. Willie Esco is the creative director, so there’s a lot of history and experience in this. ”
He explained further that “we’re inventing some new stuff. We have a Coogi sweater with the double L’s on it real big. It’s a cross collaboration with Coogi. And the same with the Etonic, we have an Etonic sneaker as well. They’re not playing off of Ralph Lauren or anything. Willy approached me with the idea and I’ve been out there as a Lo-life branding everything through the music, through the videos. We’ve been pushing for years and years, building the brand. Just off of T-shirts and rugs. We did a collaboration with Erick Sermon on the DefRugs. Just collaborating with a lot of people and pushing our own stuff. It built up to be a brand, especially having the global following now. There are Lo-life chapters all over the world.”
Only time will unveil what the brand has in store, but if its anything like the gear below, then expect good things. Check out some preview fliks of the fall lineup below. Images Via Lolifebrand
