How Ralph Lauren’s Polo Cup in China revives the polo spirit

What happened Across a wide green field, riders in orange and yellow jerseys raced forward on horsebacks, raising mallets while chasing the ball as a polo match unfolded. As ponies thundered past at nearly 60km/h, guests under white parasols, dressed for the ritual of an old sport, watched with full attention. At that moment, speed, intensity, stamina, and elegance were held in one frame in the stillness of early summer. In the Polo Cup event, Ralph Lauren brought its iconic Polo Player logo onto the equestrian field in Beijing. The event was the first of its kind in the brand’s history, setting one of the fashion world's most recognized cultural symbols in motion. Crafted from 1,100 stitches, the embroidered silhouette of a polo player mid-swing has been popular for decades, from the screen worlds of Annie Hall and The Great Gatsby on the screen to generations of everyday wardrobes. This time, the event was part of the American fashion and lifestyle brand’s broader efforts to elevate its cultural narrative in China and the wider Asian region. In addition, the event also felt timely as it has made the spirit of polo newly relevant in a world clouded by uncertainties. The Jing Take This is the first time the brand has brought the static insignia into a physically and emotionally legible context. In doing so, the Polo Cup event has actually presented an integral Ralph Lauren world: sport, style, team spirit, social ritual, family inheritance, and grace under pressure. This campaign feels innovative and organic in itself, as few fashion houses have brought their history onto the field with such a real-life vibe and made it sensorily and socially immediate when it comes to showing heritage through archives. Modern Polo Spirit in the very ‘Polo Player’ The story all started with a tie in 1967, when Ralph Lauren, a humble sales clerk, designed a wide necktie line, which bucked the trend of the skinny cravat of the time. He named the brand “Polo” because it captured what he saw as the most compelling choice of lifestyle — a sporting ease, elite elegance, and a classical sense of polo spirit. A year later, he launched his first men’s collection. Following a few store openings, he debuted in 1971 a full women’s collection where the embroidered Polo player atop a galloping thoroughbred made its first appearance on the cuffs of women’s tailored shirts. The now-iconic polo shirt was born the next year. It has since quickly moved through almost every collection of the brand, from the classic cable-knit cardigans to the philanthropic Pink Pony line. Soon, the symbol has become a ubiquitous cultural shorthand, synonymous with an aspirational dream, old-world class, and a premium way of life. The founder’s own life story — from a boy of immigrant parents living in the Bronx to a billionaire fashion icon — shaped how he defines dream. As he said, “I don’t design clothes, I design dreams.” To him, dreaming means having the courage to innovate, break rules, take responsibility, and respond to challenges and uncertainty with grace. It also explains why the house has rarely chased trends: Classics endure because they are built with quality, restraint, and time. Such values as being oneself, forging ahead, and caring for others are very much of the equestrian spirit, where charisma lies in composure in face of challenges, mastery of skill and teamwork, and poise in victory or defeat. The Polo Cup has recalled that old-world spirit, rendering it newly relevant in a world unsettled by increasing volatility and unpredictability. In this sense, it’s reshaped a nostalgic ideal into a contemporary polo spirit. Localization: A new logic What sets the Polo Cup event apart not merely lies in tying polo as a sport to Ralph Lauren's brand DNA but in making a historical connection to China. Unlike many premier brands that have been localizing by highlighting Chinese cultural symbols and totems, Ralph Lauren has found a fresh entry point while doubling down on its own core value. Originating in ancient Persia (today's Iran) as "chogan" around the 6th century BC, polo traveled eastward along the Silk Road to China and, by Tang Dynasty, flourished as a courtly pastime. Its place in Chinese history was vividly captured in paintings such as the tomb mural Polo Game which depicts more than 20 riders with crescent-shaped mallets in hands competing in a polo match, as well as in records of grand polo games held at Tang's imperial court every March. During the Song Dynasty, an imperial women's polo team was founded, with scenes of women playing the sport preserved in museum collections. Around the same time, the sport was said to have traveled westward, gradually becoming part of the traditions of British royalty. The rest is history. Hence the recent event could evoke an older Chinese memory of horsemanship, courtly leisure, and cosmopolitan exchange. In this way, Ralph Lauren has located cultural resonance with Chinese consumers within its own design and business code by connecting polo to China's history, elite culture, and also contemporary aspirations, instead of piling up Chinese cultural symbols or so-called Eastern aesthetics onto its products or creating tokenistic localization campaigns. The past years have seen the preppy label grow into one of the most coveted fashion names in China, especially among younger generations and women. Its revenue in the China market has been a major growth engine for its strong performance in the last couple of years. For fiscal year 2026, its annual revenue surpassed $8 billion for the first time in history, pushing its shares up by 10%. The brand attributed much of the growth to its China market, where sales jumped more than 50 percent during the 2026 Chinese New Year period. Its record-breaking momentum has stood out in a luxury market blighted by slowing and selective consumer spending, much as it once bucked the narrow-tie trend in the 1960s and made menswear-inspired tailoring part of the modern feminine wardrobe in the 1970s. A precious lived experience In the Polo Cup event, the galloping ponies, the sound of hooves, the vast field stretching across five football pitches, the soft sunlight, and the spectators all became part of the brand experience. On the field, riders were caring for their horses and moving in sync with their team members while reading the game and calibrating which skill to deploy; on the sidelines, the audience was following closely every shift of pace and rhythm unfolding in the speed and beauty of the competition. The very point of being fully in the moment already feels rare and precious in the era of AI. As people have been increasingly awash in generated images, ephemeral short videos, and virtual interactions among algorithmic noise, a real-life atmosphere — collective, sensory, and unrepeatable — carries its own charm. China’s high-end consumers are placing growing value on experience, emotional resonance, and self-expression. According to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the country’s experience economy has reached 18.4 trillion RMB ($2.6 trillion), up 22.6 percent year-on-year, and 7.4 percentage points higher than the global average. Ipsos, the Paris-headquartered consulting firm, revealed in its 2025 Consumer Experience Global Insights report that 70% of customers across the 25 countries studied choose brands based on the expectation of a good experience, while in China, this figure stands at 92%. Ralph Lauren has precisely captured this trend. Rather than chasing short-lived trends, the premium fashion house uses an immersive offline experience to reinforce long-termism, authenticity, and emotional memory, which are also the values that have long shaped the founder’s vision of fashion. In this sense, the Polo Cup campaign could reactivate Ralph Lauren’s core assets in China — the Polo icon, classic style, family inheritance, sporting spirit, and the enduring pursuit of a better life. As Ralph Lauren put it, “Sport and style have always been about more than what you wear or how you play. They are about a way of living — freedom, energy, authenticity, connection — that can inspire us all to dream of a better life.” The Polo Cup carries the founder’s original vision: When you're buying a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt, you’re buying into something that’s more than a product — an enduring value and a promise of a better life. The Jing Take reports on a piece of the leading news and presents our editorial team’s analysis of the key implications for the luxury industry. In the recurring column, we analyze everything from product drops and mergers to heated debate sprouting on Chinese social media.

How Ralph Lauren’s Polo Cup in China revives the polo spirit

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag

Upgrade to Pro

Sectors

Insights

Company

How Ralph Lauren’s Polo Cup in China revives the polo spirit

How Bottega Veneta weaved China’s forever it bag