Ricky Regal, All Photography Harper Smith.
Lacoste’s expertise in crafting endlessly charming sportswear is well established, and the surprise arrival of their latest collection designed by Bruno Mars stands as a testament to the brand’s storied reputation. For his debut fashion collection, Mars chose to go by an eccentric alter ego, Ricky Regal, who even has his own Instagram profile. The account’s posts are filled with digital versions of old-school flyers advertising himself as the person to call if you’re in the hunt for: “Record Producer, Luxury Alcohol Distribution, Gambling Consultant, Celebrity Services, Entrepreneur, Night Club Owner, Tee Shirt Printing & High-End Fashion Designer”.
Regal’s visibly unique charisma and bordering-on-brazen attitude shines through and indicates Mars’ commitment to proactively throwing himself into the project. According to Lacoste’s Creative Director Louise Trotter, he was involved in every aspect of production “from concept to fittings”.
The result, is a luxury sportswear collection, offering a range of ready-to-wear clothing, footwear, and accessories looking effortlessly chic and sophisticated, threading the line between dressy and casual. Velvet and silk smoothly adapt their textures to the classic sportswear silhouettes, flaunting impeccable finishes. The colour palette is similarly effective: petrol green, eggplant purple, mustard yellow, coral red, and tie-dye. But this is just a part of his comeback, there is also another new identity to discover.
Lacoste was the first and only brand that said "Bruno, you can do whatever you want". The respect of such creative freedom coming from a heritage fashion house was an honour.
Ricky Regal.
Alongside the Ricky Regal collection, Mars has also released ‘Leave The Door Open‘, the first track from his upcoming new collaborative album with Anderson Paak, who joins him in a selection of shots from the Lacoste campaign. Together they perform under the alias, Silk Sonic, which also kindly lends itself to the title of their album, An Evening With Silk Sonic. Mars told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that the project had begun very naturally with a studio session in 2017: “It was like, “well, want to come back tomorrow?” And we kept coming up with music. It reminded you why you fell in love with music in the first place. And jamming with your buddy”.
Lowe was joined by special guest host Bootsy Collins, who not only contributed writing credits to some of the album’s songs but also came up with the Silk Sonic name. Brewing with excitement, Collins captioned an Instagram post of Mars and Paak with the words “Betta Get up, Betta Come On, It’s Time to Go Party Down!”.
‘Leave The Door Open’ arrives with a retro-stylised video, directed by Mars and long-time collaborator Florent Dechard, that perfectly complemented the song’s smooth ’70 sounds. Fittingly bathed in the warm glow of the recording room, Mars, Paak, and the whole band are dressed in pieces from the Ricky Regal collection, with the Lacoste crocodile visible throughout. Mars’ energetic return to the fold is characterised by a series of complex projects that have been born out of a clear and cohesive creative vision. We cannot wait to see what’s in store next.
Exclusively available from 5 March 2021 via lacoste.com and selected retailers worldwide.