Urban Academy Brunches w/ Ralph Lauren Creatives Discussing its Legacy’s Impact
From left to right, David Harrell of the Suit Brother, Ryan Azia of the Aziancy, creative director and designer Emma Manis, Sherry Nguyen of Urban Academy, career advisor and junior NBA coach Arianna Emanuel-Wright and makeup artist Maria Seccia of Ralph Lauren
“He’s [Ralph Lauren] the definition of self-made. ”
RICHMOND—Rebellious-preppy fashion brand, Urban Academy, hosted its first panel discussion on the morning of April 14 alongside the local fashion community with other industry creatives about Ralph Lauren’s legacy impact and influence.
The panel discussion dubbed as “The Assembly” was hosted at the Antennae Gallery on 8 East Broad St. filled with members of the fashion community from models, small business owners to other industry creatives. The speakers who participated in the discussion were fashion designer David Harrell of the Suit Brother, creative director and designer Emma Manis, artist and creative Ryan Azia of the Aziancy, career advisor and junior NBA coach Arianna Emanuel-Wright, and Ralph Lauren’s makeup artist Maria Seccia. The panel was moderated by Vietnamese-American fashion designer, stylist and entrepreneur, Sherry Nguyen.
“Everyone here has one way or another been inspired by Ralph Lauren to an extent,” Nguyen said during the panel discussion. “I like to think of Urban Academy as Ralph Lauren’s youngest, rebellious child and I’d like to see Burberry as Urban Academy’s cool uncle, I think that’s the best way to look at it.”
Urban Academy was founded by Nguyen in late 2022. The brand designs and showcases a combination of collegiate and streetwear clothing, but rebels against the traditional prep-wear style from brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, J. Crew and Brooks Brother. Urban Academy held its soft launch back in April 2023 and debuted its first fashion show at Studio Two Three during Richmond Fashion Week’s fall season last year in October.
The panel first jumped into the discussion of how the All-American fashion brand impacted their daily lives in little ways.
“Growing up in Florida, it’s hot, so the things I used to wear [sic] like the polo shirts, the polo shoes, they were really popular,” Emanuel-Wright recalls of her middle and high school days in Jacksonville. “It’s funny because, if you don’t have that [polos shirts and shoes], it’s not like people are going to make fun of you, but it’s like, ‘what are you going to wear?’”
Ralph Lauren is a high-end fashion brand was founded in 1967 by American designer Ralph Lauren, or his real name, Ralph Lifshitz. The brand is known for its polos and horse logo, as well as other upscale timeless pieces.
Harrell, who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, also added Ralph Lauren was also popularly worn in A-town.
“Growing up, it was polo that was the big brand in Atlanta, […] good thing about Ralph was you can do it preppy. You could wear polo, khakis—things like that,” he said, explaining the versatility of the brand’s fashion pieces. “But, what you could also do was tracksuit and with the sneakers.”
Azia, who also studied the fashion brand for years, said he observed that Ralph Lauren’s brand is all about reinvention.
“Ralph Lauren is definitely about aspirational, kind of constantly challenging yourself that it’s ok to recreate yourself and your brand,” the designer and former Richmond Fashion Week creative director said.
Seccia, who has been working as Ralph Lauren’s makeup artist for over 20 years and known for creating natural looks on models, said being with the brand has challenged her to grow as an artist. While the timeless fashion brand is known for its sophisticated looks, Ralph Lauren is all about keeping their models’ makeup natural and minimal.
“It wasn’t about doing more makeup, it was about just having this elevated, polished look,” Seccia said. “Working with them [Ralph Lauren] took my work to another level, for sure.”
With the spring fashion season swiftly passing in Richmond, Urban Academy has big plans for its future carrying the inspiration of Ralph Lauren’s legacy and his career.
“Urban Academy is still in its innovation era. Even though we don’t think that Ralph Lauren as an innovative brand currently, it did go through an innovative state in the beginning,” said Nguyen. “I do see Urban Academy overtime as a timeless brand with how we grow stylistically as a brand with over time.”
