A space celebrating 50 years of Polo Ralph Lauren's presence in Japan has opened in Tokyo's Harajuku district, inviting visitors to explore the brand's history and distinctive world.

From October 23 to 25, 2026, Ralph Lauren is hosting PoloFest Tokyo in Jingumae, Tokyo. Marking the 50th anniversary of the brand's arrival in Japan, the three-day event brings together collectors, creators, and artisans from around the world to explore Polo's history and the culture that has grown around it. Tokyo is the first destination for PoloFest, which is set to expand internationally.

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Outside the venue, a large red "PoloFest 東京" logo stands against Polo's signature navy blue. Passing through the white noren, a traditional Japanese fabric curtain hanging at the entrance, visitors encounter a ceiling filled with illuminated Japanese lanterns, or chochin, decorated with Polo logos and the iconic polo player. The setting brings together American style and Japanese design traditions.

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Inside, the event unfolds across an exhibition tracing the cultural exchange between Polo and Japan, a vintage market organized around four distinctive styles, and a gift shop offering event-exclusive merchandise.

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PoloFest is more than a retrospective of a fashion brand or a marketplace for vintage clothing. It reveals a fashion culture shaped by the people who wear, collect, care for, and pass down their clothes.

Polo and Japan: A Cultural Exchange Since 1976

Polo Ralph Lauren first entered the Japanese market in 1976 through a partnership with Seibu Department Stores, opening its first Polo shop in Japan at the retailer's Ikebukuro location.

That same year, a fashion show at the Tokyo Prince Hotel introduced styling that combined traditional dress codes with casual elements, including British-inspired tailoring paired with hiking boots. Rooted in American style while drawing on British sartorial traditions, sports, and the outdoors, Polo offered Japanese fashion enthusiasts new possibilities for personal expression.

Over the decades, Japanese enthusiasts have developed their own culture around Polo clothing. Enthusiasts have gone beyond simply wearing the brand, collecting vintage pieces, creating their own combinations, and sometimes repairing or reworking garments to give them new life.

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The opening section of PoloFest explores this relationship through an archive of clothing, graphics, and photographs.

Garments and advertising imagery from different decades line the walls, while jackets and knitwear are displayed in glass cases. Numerous graphics inspired by sports and outdoor pursuits offer a visual journey through Polo's evolving styles.

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What stands out is how many of these garments retain a presence that goes beyond their historical significance. Their aged colors, textures, and original styling possess a character that still resonates with contemporary fashion.

BETTER WITH AGE: The Value of Clothes That Endure

One section of the exhibition is titled BETTER WITH AGE.

Shirts and trousers assembled from contrasting fabrics, along with garments transformed through repair, are displayed across the walls. The presentation invites visitors to reconsider the beauty that develops through years of wear and the new character that can emerge through thoughtful restoration.

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The project features three Japanese creative practices: BROWNTABBYWORKS, which specializes in repairing vintage clothing; SASHIKO GALS, a group based in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, practicing sashiko, a traditional Japanese stitching technique used to reinforce, repair, and decorate textiles; and MITSUGU SASAKI (Sasaki Yohinten), known for reworking vintage textiles and garments.

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A display case also features Polo Bears dressed in newly interpreted outfits incorporating sashiko and other forms of Japanese handcraft. Seeing one of the brand's most recognizable characters transformed through Japanese craftsmanship offers a particularly vivid expression of the cultural exchange at the heart of PoloFest.

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Rather than replacing something simply because it has grown old, this approach embraces the passage of time, adding new layers of craftsmanship before passing an object on to another generation. It is a sensibility shared by many vintage enthusiasts.

Exclusive Polo pieces created by these Japanese artisans are also available for purchase at the event. By bringing Japanese techniques of repair and reinterpretation to an emblem of American fashion, the collaboration opens up new ways of appreciating the value of clothing.

Exploring Four Styles at the Vintage Market

Beyond the exhibition, visitors enter the vintage market, where Polo pieces are presented through four themes: English Tweed, Polo Country, Polo Sport, and Outdoorsman.

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The first area evokes the traditions of British dress through English Tweed. Jackets, knitwear, ties, and leather accessories are arranged against richly colored walls and classic furnishings. The setting captures Polo's distinctive approach to traditional tailoring, balancing sartorial refinement with an effortless, relaxed attitude.

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The adjoining Polo Country area draws on Western influences and the landscapes of rural America. Wooden fixtures, vintage furniture, and patterned blankets surround the clothing, creating an environment that conveys not only a way of dressing but an entire way of life.

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Polo Sport, by contrast, is defined by brightly colored jackets, sweatshirts, and athletic apparel. The bold graphics and color combinations associated with the 1990s feel closely connected to today's streetwear. Sports posters and display elements reinforce another side of Polo's visual identity.

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The Outdoorsman section turns to clothing and accessories inspired by life in nature. Functional garment details are presented alongside the worn textures of outdoor equipment, suggesting how Polo has interpreted outdoor culture through its own aesthetic.

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One of the most engaging aspects of the market is that these four styles are not confined to strictly separated exhibition rooms. Instead, their worlds flow into one another. Furniture, posters, and everyday objects are displayed alongside the clothes, allowing each setting to evoke a broader lifestyle.

The vintage pieces presented in the market are available for purchase. Visitors can do more than admire the styles of the past; they can bring them into their own wardrobes. This direct connection between collecting and wearing is part of what makes PoloFest distinctive.

PoloFest Exclusives and the Made in USA Collection

A separate gift shop offers another selection of pieces created or curated for the event.

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Alongside limited-edition clothing, caps, and accessories bearing the PoloFest logo, visitors will find collectors' items and a Made in USA capsule collection. Together, they offer a range of pieces commemorating the Tokyo event.

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A Ralph's Coffee truck is also stationed at the venue, extending the lifestyle associated with Ralph Lauren beyond clothing. It is a characteristically Ralph Lauren touch, reflecting an approach to fashion that encompasses how people spend their time and experience the spaces around them.

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Throughout the three-day event, a speaker series explores the cultural influences that have shaped the brand and the people who make up the Polo community.

Polo as a Culture Passed Down Through Clothing

Since Ralph Lauren founded his namesake brand in 1967, it has become one of the defining names in American fashion, reaching across generations and national borders.

Yet its styles have also been interpreted in countless ways by the people who wear them. Some are drawn to British-inspired tailoring, others to outdoor clothing or sportswear. Some treasure garments that have aged over decades, while others introduce new forms of craftsmanship to pieces they already own.

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As Ralph Lauren marks 50 years in Japan, PoloFest's debut in Tokyo offers an opportunity to reflect on the breadth of this cultural relationship.

Walking through the venue, it becomes clear that Polo's appeal cannot be confined to a particular decade or style. Clothing creates connections between people, who bring their own interpretations to familiar designs and, in doing so, help shape new cultural traditions.

PoloFest Tokyo invites visitors to reconsider the relationship between the world Ralph Lauren has created and the people who have embraced it, made it their own, and carried it forward.