Ralph Lauren x Riley Sheehey

I am beyond thrilled to share that I have collaborated with Ralph Lauren Children’s on a collection of exclusive watercolor designs for their line of baby products, and that the first pattern, “Nautical Zoo,” will be available to shop next Tuesday, June 11th, on ralphlauren.com.

This partnership is over a year in the making, and working with the team at Ralph Lauren has been both a dream come true and a highlight of my career so far. I grew up with the brand- every year on the way to the beach, we stopped at the Polo store and each picked out a few items. In highschool, I distinctly remember making my brother go upstairs to change one morning upon realizing we were both wearing an orange and blue Polo shirt.  I wore the same RL madras skirt for my senior photos and my first day of teaching, and still have the Polo beach towel my parents bought their first year of marriage- I could go on and on, but I guess what I am saying is that while every collaboration I’ve been lucky enough to work on has been special, this one really means the world to me. 

For these prints, which will continue to be released throughout the rest of the year, we really went back into the RL archives- the design team pulled imagery and product samples from the late 80s through early 00s, which provided us with some concepts which we then developed into sketches and then patterns. As an artist, I am always inspired by nostalgia and making what’s old new again, and  so the old RL magazine ads from the moodboard sent by the team gave me so many ideas. I am always drawn to and inspired by old children’s book illustrations (like those of Ludwig Bemelmans and Quentin Blake), and the whimsical characters featured in those illustrations, and so I included some “characters” in the RL illustrations (like the animals in the Nautical Zoo pattern). 

I am so, so excited to see the items from this partnership “in the wild”- I already know I’ll be ordering a few onesies for my baby nephew, and the blanket for my daughter. I am so grateful to RL for this opportunity, and looking forward to the release of more patterns over the next few months!