Ralph Lauren stays closer to home this time with intimate Manhattan gallery show

NEW YORK (AP) — Ralph Lauren, known for staging elaborate runway shows in sumptuous settings like the horsey Hamptons or amid his vintage car collection, took it down a notch for a more intimate show Thursday in a Manhattan gallery space.

As celebrities like Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ariana DeBose and many others watched from the front row, Lauren presented a fall collection dubbed “The Modern Romantics,” heavy on high ruffled necks, classics like buttery leather in everything from aviator jackets to bustiers, and soft cashmere. Evening looks were long and lacy.

Lauren’s models first appeared atop a balcony, then each descended a grand staircase to walk the runway. The venue, now the Jack Shainman Gallery, was built in 1898 in the Italian Renaissance Revival style.

For the New York-based crowd, it was much less of a journey than Lauren’s last show in the Hamptons on Long Island, which took some guests four hours from Manhattan in busy traffic.

Lauren himself appeared at the end of the show to wave — from the top of the balcony.

Lauren said he was celebrating “The Modern Romantics,” an aesthetic he described as “self-assured and unbound by rules.”

Strutting the runway, the models displayed looks that began with a classic Lauren combination of black trousers, a high-necked ruffled white shirt, and an aviator jacket in brown distressed leather.

That was followed by a filmy white midi-dress paired with a thick black leather belt, and tall black leather boots.

A black leather bustier was paired with a long camel wool skirt, and white lacy ruffled shirts popped up in different ensembles — with a long camel coat, or a puffy brown cardigan. There were also white lace neckties. There were velvet jackets, including in a deep shade of purple.

Outfits segued into evening with long, silky or strappy gowns, one in a white crochet theme, another in sumptuous black lace. There was a black halter gown in tiers of ruffles spiraling around the body.

Hathaway, Williams and Watts sat together in the front row, each in a Lauren-style trench or wrap coat. Hathaway, her hair pulled back in a tight ponytail, paired her coat with a pair of tan-colored jeans, embroidered with sequins and strategically shredded.

DeBose wore a smart gray suit that would go perfectly with next month’s Met Gala dress code: “Tailored For You.” Louis-Dreyfus wore a cropped leather jacket in light brown, with white trousers.

Also attending were Sadie Sink, Sarah Catherine Hook, Eiza Gonzalez, Andra Day, Kacey Musgraves and Ella Hunt, among others.

“I thought it was very much his sensibility and what he believes,” Anna Wintour, the influential Vogue editor, said after the show, noting that Lauren’s fashion transcended trends. “He’s a designer that never looks to the left or to the right. He’s just very clear in what he wants to say and what his customer wants, and that’s one of the reasons he’s so unbelievably successful.”

Sarah Catherine Hook, who appeared in the recently concluded third season of “The White Lotus," said she liked the collection’s ephemeral feel.

“I love anything timeless and I feel like this is the most timeless you could possibly get," Hook said. “I love the masculine-feminine mix of it and this is my first time getting to wear a necktie, so I’m feeling pretty chic today.”

Sarah Catherine Hook arrives at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Ariana DeBose arrives at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Michelle Williams arrives at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Anne Hathaway arrives at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Eiza Gonzalez arrives at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Ralph Lauren greets the audience at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Models pose at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Models pose at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Models walk the runway at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Ralph Lauren greets the audience at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Georgia Fowler arrives at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus arrives at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway as Anna Wintour, right, looks on at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

A model walks the runway at the Ralph Lauren Fall 2025 presentation on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia and Ukraine are set to hold their first direct peace talks in three years, both countries said Thursday, but hopes for a breakthrough remained dim after Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned an offer by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet face-to-face in Turkey.

Zelenskyy said he is sending a team headed by his defense minister from the Turkish capital Ankara to Istanbul to meet a Russian delegation, even though Moscow's side doesn’t include “anyone who actually makes decisions.”

Few had expected Putin to show up in Turkey, and his absence punctured any hope of significant progress in efforts to end the 3-year-old war that was given a push in recent months by the Trump administration and Western European leaders. It also raised the prospect of intensified international sanctions on Russia that have been threatened by the West.

Zelenskyy, speaking to reporters in Ankara where he flew Thursday after challenging Putin to sit down with him, accused Moscow of not taking efforts to end the war seriously by sending a low-level negotiating team that he described as “a theater prop.”

His proposal to Putin came after a flurry of maneuvering last weekend as each side sought a diplomatic advantage.

The head of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, said in Istanbul the representatives were ready to meet Ukrainian officials.

“The task of these direct negotiations with Ukraine is to establish long-term peace sooner or later by eliminating the root causes of this conflict,” he said in a brief statement.

It was not clear when they might meet. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due in Istanbul in Friday.

Zelenskyy, who is heading Friday to a gathering of European officials in Albania, said that he had decided to send the delegation to Istanbul to demonstrate to U.S. President Donald Trump that Ukraine wants to end the fighting.

He said the Ukrainian side would be headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and its aim is “to attempt at least the first steps toward de-escalation, the first steps toward ending the war — namely, a ceasefire.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier welcomed Zelenskyy with an honor guard at the presidential palace in Ankara before the two held their own talks.

The war has killed tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides and more than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians, according to the U.N., and continues along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line. Russian forces are preparing a fresh military offensive, Ukrainian government and Western military analysts say.

At least five civilians were killed and 29 injured in the past day, according to authorities in five eastern regions of Ukraine where Russia’s army is trying to advance.

The diplomatic maneuvering began Saturday when European leaders met Zelenskyy in Kyiv and urged the Kremlin to agree to a full, unconditional 30-day ceasefire as a first step toward peace. Putin responded early Sunday by proposing direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul. Then came Zelenskyy's challenge to Putin for face-to-face talks.

After days of silence, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov finally said Thursday that Putin had no plans to travel to Istanbul in the next few days.

Trump said he was not surprised that Putin was a no-show. He had pressed for Putin and Zelenskyy to meet but brushed off the Kremlin leader’s decision not to attend.

“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump told reporters at a meeting with business executives in Doha, Qatar, on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.

Trump said a meeting between him and Putin was crucial to breaking the deadlock.

“I don’t believe anything’s going to happen whether you like it or not, until (Putin) and I get together,” he said on Air Force One while traveling from Doha to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. “But we’re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.”

Peskov said Putin has no plans to meet with Trump in the coming days.

Medinsky, Putin's aide, is leading the Russian team that also includes three other senior officials, the Kremlin said. Putin also appointed four lower-level officials as “experts” for the talks in Istanbul.

Also absent from the talks were Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, both of whom represented Russia at talks with the U.S. in Saudi Arabia in March.

The top-level Ukrainian delegation included Umerov, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, and the head of the Ukrainian presidential office Andriy Yermak, a Ukrainian official said. Zelenskyy will sit at the negotiating table only with Putin, said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.

Putin met Wednesday evening with senior government officials and members of the delegation in preparation for the talks, Peskov said. Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, General Staff chief Valery Gerasimov, and National Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu also attended.

The Kremlin billed Thursday’s talks as a “restart” of peace negotiations that were held in Istanbul in 2022 but quickly collapsed. Moscow accused Ukraine and the West of wanting to continue fighting, while Kyiv said Russia’s demands amounted to an ultimatum rather than something both sides could agree on.

That delegation also was also headed by Medinsky.

Putin's proposal came after more than three months of diplomacy kickstarted by Trump, who promised during his campaign to end the war swiftly — although it's been hard to pull off. The Trump administration in recent weeks indicated it might walk away from the effort if there was no tangible progress soon.

Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, met with Rubio and Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday night in the Turkish city of Antalya, which is hosting NATO foreign ministers to discuss new defense investment goals as the U.S. shifts its focus to security challenges away from Europe.

Sybiha reaffirmed Ukraine’s support for Trump’s mediation efforts and thanked the U.S. for its continued involvement, urging Moscow to “reciprocate Ukraine’s constructive steps” toward peace. "So far, it has not,” Sybiha said.

On Thursday morning, Sybiha also met with other European foreign ministers, including his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot, who in a post on X reiterated the call for a ceasefire and the threat of “massive sanctions” if Russia doesn't comply.

“We’re in a very difficult spot right now, and we hope that we can find the steps forward that provide for the end of this war in a negotiated way and the prevention of any war in the future," Rubio said Thursday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Putin of “standing in the way of peace.”

“There was only one country that started this conflict -- that was Russia. That was Putin. There’s only one country now standing in the way of peace -- that is Russia, that is Putin,” he said in a visit to Tirana, Albania.

Barrot echoed that sentiment: “In front of Ukrainians there is an empty chair, one that should have been occupied by Vladimir Putin,” he said. “Vladimir Putin is dragging his feet and in all evidence does not want to enter into these peace discussions.”

—-

Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels; Illia Novikov and Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine; Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia; Aamer Madhani in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and Matthew Lee in Antalya, Turkey, contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks to journalists at the Ukrainian Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

In this handout photo released by Turkish Presidency, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their meeting at the Presidential palace in Ankara, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (Turkish Presidency via AP)

Ayse Sahil, whose family emigrated from Bolshevik in Russia, holds a board near Dolmabahce palace where talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)

Turkish security members stand guard at Dolmabahce palace where talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations are expected, in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Dilara Acikgoz)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walks down the stairs from his plane upon his arrival at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures to journalists as he leaves upon his arrival at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy talks to journalists as he arrives at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Ukrainian official plane, background, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on board lands at Esenboga airport in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on forthcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting on forthcoming Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)