Getting to Palace Ralph Lauren: A History of Collaboration

A History of Collaboration

Palace x Ralph Lauren is a certainly a big deal, but as many fans of the brand know, Palace has a history of high powered collabs that expanded their offering outside of skateboarding. Through collaborations with adidas, Reebok, and Umbro, Palace has focused on both skateboarding and other sportswear markets. Their diverse collaboration history and ability to create authentic experiences in new markets has expanded the brand’s audience, who all covet unique Palace grails in soccer, tennis, and running, among others.

 

Palace x Umbro

Palace’s first non-skate collaboration came in 2013 with sportswear brand, Umbro. The collaboration focused on soccer and soccer fan culture, with garments designed for fans to wear to their local bar. This was put on display when the promo video for the collab was released which is literally just the Palace skate teams wearing the collab in a bar for three minutes. Being that the collaboration took place in 2013, remaining pieces on the internet are few and far between. That being said, if one wanted to get their hands on a piece, they’d likely have to pay a pretty penny.

Palace Reebok

In 2013, Palace collaborated with Reebok for the first time, adding a slight twist to the British shoe brand’s most recognizable styles. The first collaboration made small changes to the Classic Leather and the Workout and while the design changes were somewhat insignificant, this was the beginning of what would be a long, fruitful relationship between the two brands. In 2014, Palace x Reebok would rollout the Palace Vulcanized Workout, the first time the Workout would be sold with a vulcanized sole. The shoe was released in 4 different colorways alongside a satirical promotional video that would give way to their now emblematic advertising style.

In 2016, they’d take the promotional style to the next level for the Palace x Reebok Classic with a cringeworthy promo featuring Jonah Hill. The collaboration featured both the Club C and a re-up of the Classic. The Club C was featured in three colorways and the Classic was back in two new colorways. The most recent Palace x Reebok collaboration was delivered to our feet earlier this year with the Palace Club Workout. While the rollout was rather lackluster in regards to past collaborations, the actual shoes were the most interesting Reebok collaboration that Palace has delivered. The release featured the Club Workout in a colorful White, Grey, and Black colorway.

 

Palace x Adidas:

Palace’s relationship with adidas spans back as far as 2015 when they debuted a football focused, apparel only launch featuring flashy co-branded jerseys and windbreakers. The first Palace x adidas sneaker collab would come soon after, featuring the Palace Pro, Palace’s very own sneaker. The first release would feature two Primeknit Colorways and two velvet colorways. The Palace Pro has been a consistent earmark in the Palace’s four season rotation, they’ve iterated the original multiple times releasing several different colorways and even a boost sole. The original adidas x Palace Pro Stone retailed at $140 and was listed on StockX for $450 at the time of this writing.

The Palace Pro has been the most popular collab between Palace and adidas, but they’ve released several other silhouettes as well. adidas also released the adidas Palace Indoor in 2016. The shoe is meant to be an indoor soccer version of the Palace Pro. Shortly after releasing the Palace Indoor, Palace put their mark on the EQT. The shoe was released in an electric yellow/blue colorway as well as a red, white, and blue colorway. This marked Palace x adidas’ first step outside of soccer and into another sport, running.

After moving to running, Palace set their sights on a new market, tennis. During the Summer of 2018, just before Wimbledon, Palace x adidas released a collaboration focused on tennis that caught the eyes of more than just streetwear fans. The 30 piece collection featured functional tennis athletic wear, displayed by multiple players who wore it while playing in Wimbledon. The tennis equipment even saw headlines when Angelique Kerber won the Woman’s Singles over Serena Williams while wearing the gear.

 

Palace Ralph Lauren

Early on, Tanju told Dazed that he wanted to be selective with their collaborations. He wanted the brand’s collaborations to be surprising and head-turning. One after the other, and seemingly out of nowhere, the brand has announced high powered collaborations that constantly do what Tanju wanted, turn heads. If Palace, Reebok, and Umbro have turned heads, the announcement of Palace Ralph Lauren broke necks. Before even announcing the Tokyo location, Palace Ralph Lauren ads started turning up all over Shibuya with no explanation. Then, in traditional Palace fashion, the promo video arrived a week later. The visual portrays a true collision of the two brands. Loud, colorful, horse emblazoned garments flood the scene as one model comforts a horse and in the background a VW Golf can be seen drifting around the desert landscape. Unmissable is the heel-flipping polo bear sweater flashed briefly as team member Rory Milanes exits the car. The range places an emphasis on traditional Ralph Lauren Polo Wear running check patterns from head-to-toe, placing an emphasis on the classic design ethos that’s made Ralph so identifiable. While traditionally very loud (and large) the Palace Logo gives way to the Polo horse in what feels like a respectful withdrawal similar to how you’d let Kobe shoot the game winning shot instead of taking it yourself. If history tells us anything, this likely won’t be the last time we’ll see these two collaborate. Palace is cool with the assist but the opportunity to score will be coming soon.

Shop the full Palace Ralph Lauren collection here.