What do Ralph Lauren, Dallas and Denver have in common?
It’s not often you find a through line connecting a global fashion brand, an established interior designer in Dallas, and an east-coast transplant starting a boutique interior design firm in Denver.
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Let me explain.
Ralph Lauren, known for staging elaborate runway shows in sumptuous settings like the horsey Hamptons or amid his vintage car collection, took it down a notch for the most recent show. The “Modern Romantics” Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 fashion show in New York City, occurring just days ago, is another work of art demonstrating the global lifestyle brand’s distinctive ability to transport its audience into a world of timeless elegance.
Masterful storytelling.
An abundance of textiles and silhouettes.
Classic American elegance.
Subtle nods to eras past, remastered into a refreshing and distinct point of view on modern, timelessness.
Layers of details, reimagined and masterfully curated to create a multi-sensory experience of luxury.
Dreamy.
The same can be said for the stunning work of Burkle Creative, an interior design firm based in Dallas, Texas. The firm’s website is one of my frequently visited go-tos for intoxicating design inspo!
There’s something about Ralph Lauren’s shows and this project by Burkle Creative that evoke similar feelings for me. Elegance. Quiet luxury. An idealistic, global Americana. Beautiful juxtaposition of masculine and feminine movement and conversation between looks and moments. Traditional and modern with oh so subtle, can’t-put-my-finger-on-it-but-it’s-there playfulness.
[Pardon me while I wipe the drool from my chin]
Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 fashion show; image by the New York Times.
Design by Burkle Creative.
Design by Burkle Creative.
Javier Burkle worked for Ralph Lauren, as did I in a different form. I spent a bit of my early 20s as a server in Ralph Lauren’s Rugby Cafe, located in the historic Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC. The cozy, local watering hole was directly accessible from the street as well as from Rugby’s retail store. The retail and food and beverage experiences, combined, immersed you in the world of Ralph Lauren. Dark wood paneling and pub chairs, food served on casual pub dishware, small cafe tables along Georgetown’s uneven paved sidewalks. A tiny bar that transported you to the English countryside. Seductive shadows in the nighttime cast by meticulously placed light fixtures in ways only Ralph Lauren could orchestrate. Even the single stall restrooms felt like you were transported to the global icon’s home in Bedford. While the label is no longer–nor the cafe– my preppy heart burst with joy when I recognized the familiar sight of madras patchwork and bold color rugbys in the Ralph Lauren Spring 2025 show in the Hamptons! I can even feel similar vibes between Ralph Lauren’s bright color combos and patchwork prints and this other project by Burkle Creative!
Design by Burkle Creative.
The Spring 2025 Show, Look 98 / 104, Polo by Ralph Lauren.
A barn door in the background of this photo shows a piece of Ralph Lauren’s Rugby Cafe in 2008.
Oh how I wish I held on to my stack of patchwork, madras and Rugby garments!
The Spring 2025 Show, Look 90 / 104, Polo by Ralph Lauren.
Younger me in 2008 had no idea she’d be writing this blog post in 2025 :)
As a creative, inspiration truly can be found everywhere. Fashion’s influence on interiors is an obvious thread. What we see on the runways we see in homes not long after, and vice versa.
Being from a Maryland suburb of Washington, DC, preppy style and an affinity for all the things Americana is no doubt a part of my design aesthetic. As is my love and deep appreciation for history, travel, cultural experiences, diversity, and beautiful living. I’ve lived in Colorado since 2014 to be closer to the beauty that can only be found in the Rockies. Nature and biophilic design absolutely influence my design approach. My travels domestically and abroad have exposed me to an eclectic mix of experiences that will likely matriculate into client projects. Heck, even my corporate America experiences play a role in how I design spaces (In case you’re wondering, the answer is yes–Amazon has some incredibly designed corporate offices)!
I started interior design school days after the Ralph Lauren Spring 2025 collection show in the Hamptons dropped. The program encouraged us to keep a design journal– a practice I’ve kept up with since. I have a bunch of looks from that runway that I’ve pasted into a design journal. And I now have many journals lying around my home office to jot down thoughts and inspo on the fly. I find joy in flipping through them to remind me of what lights me up, how far I’ve come, and where else I want to go. Here’s a note I wrote to my future self while watching that show.
Timeless elegance and layered luxury is what I want for my clients. True luxury is having a space that is comfortable, distinctively unique, and gets better with time. I want my clients to have spaces that masterfully tell their stories. And feel like a seamless collection of where they’ve been, where they are, and where they’re going.
So…a love letter of sorts to whoever is still reading—
To the busy homeowners with an appreciation for Ralph Lauren’s worlds…
To the humans that love the great outdoors AND cozy, candlelit dinners at night…
To those that value the co-mingling of classic and heritage traditions with antiquities and sprinkles of unexpected modernity…
And to all that believe life gets better and all the more beautiful with time…
Hi, I’m Mili, an ex -corporate American turned full-time interior designer that would LOVE to help you create a modern, romantic backdrop to your beautiful life story <3
