Let me take you back to Freshers Week. A sea of The North Face puffers flood the city streets, teamed with flared jeans, thin silver hoop earrings and smudged eye-makeup stubbornly clinging on from the night before.
Gap year returnees have prepped their university wardrobes to perfection, scouring Depop for diamanté-studded Y2K tops, XL champion hoodies and Nike Air Force 1s in pristine condition. University dress codes are a serious affair - executed with the help of some Marlborough Golds and that bottle of Smirnoff you pinched from your parents’ drinks cabinet.
Nothing, however, held a candle to the power of the Ralph Lauren flag knit. Defined by a deliciously chunky cable knit design, a classic crewneck silhouette, long sleeves and the star-spangled American flag displayed in all its glory, the must-have piece was the ultimate BNOC status symbol.
Introduced in the late 1980s (roughly 1989), the Ralph Lauren staple quickly became a cornerstone of the brand's heritage, designed to embody quintessential, all-American style. Since its inception, the piece has been produced in various styles, including a range of colours from navy to pink and a variety of sizes across both womenswear and menswear.
© Getty ImagesHollywood heavyweights including Richard Dreyfuss, Brian Wilson and Steven Spielberg were all papped in the heritage knit, while 90s stars like Robbie Williams and Claudia Schiffer ensured the piece remained hot property among the youth.
If the aesthetics of today's style set are anything to go by, the signature knit isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Earlier this week, Nicola Peltz Beckham took to social media to debut her latest look - you guessed it - a Ralph Lauren flag knit in white, styled with some mid-wash flared jeans and block-heels in black.
Posing in a rather unique way, the heiress enlisted the help of the timeless piece to help promote her upcoming film, Prima, an upcoming drama film starring Faye Dunaway and Jack Huston. The story, directed by Alessandro and Luca Morelli, follows a ballerina (Nicola) as she navigates a power struggle within her dance company.
Nicola is the proud owner of several cable knit treasures, often teaming the evergreen design with low-slung, Y2K jeans or bikini bottoms when out in Miami or St Tropez. Fellow A-lister of Mr Lauren’s knitwear collections include Gigi Hadid, Timothee Chalamet and Kendall Jenner. In short? Long live the Ralph Lauren knit.
