NEW YORK — It’s about time Ralph Lauren expanded his empire to New York City’s most populous, and stylistically popular, borough — Brooklyn. Lauren is an outer borough man himself, having grown up in the Bronx, and now, the company’s first-ever Brooklyn retail location opens today with a Double RL men’s store located at 85 North 3rd Street in Williamsburg.
Named for Lauren’s “RRL” Ranch in Colorado, Double RL is known for its vintage, workwear sensibility, making it a no-brainer as first of the company’s labels to cross the outer-borough rubicon to the land of bearded, flannel- and selvedge denim-loving gentry.
A press release described the Williamsburg Double RL’s merchandise: “The assortment has been specifically curated for this store, with an emphasis on iconic denim pieces and hand-selected vintage products, including leather jackets, accessories, belts and jewelry — all with signature well-weathered ruggedness.”
Located in the Mill Building, built in 1898, the store was formerly home to Hinds and Ketcham Lithography Co. for nearly a century, and Lauren preserved many of its original fixtures — beams, wood floors, brick walls and the arches from the original entrances — to maintain the rustic period décor that jives with the Double RL style.
Williamsburg is the ninth Double RL store globally. In New York City, there are locations on Bleecker Street and West Broadway in Manhattan. The new Brooklyn store is one of the company’s first moves since naming Stefan Larsson chief executive officer last month. Larsson is the first person other than Lauren himself to hold the title of ceo at the company, with Lauren remaining executive chairman and chief creative officer.