Ralph Lauren’s Limited-Edition Collaboration with Gee’s Bend Textile Artists

Ralph Lauren’s latest Artist in Residence collaboration turns to the historic quilting tradition of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, through a partnership with fourth-generation textile artist Claudia Pettway Charley and fifth-generation textile artist Loretta Pettway Bennett. Celebrated as one of America’s most significant textile traditions, Gee’s Bend quilts are recognized for their storytelling artistry, improvisational geometry, and vibrant color, expressed through hand-pieced compositions. The residency’s limited-edition collaboration translates these aesthetic identifiers—including freeform patchwork, visible topstitching, and upcycled Ralph Lauren fabrics—into apparel and home objects.

Both artists’ signature motifs define the collection, from Pettway Bennett’s recurring red triangles, honoring her sons, to Pettway Charley’s instinctive approach to color and composition. Hand-painted ceramic tableware, produced in Italy, extends the collaboration through softly glazed, intentionally asymmetrical forms that echo the organic character of the quilts.

The collaboration marks the fifth born of Ralph Lauren’s Artist in Residence program—following its 2023 debut with Naiomi Glasses, and ensuing partnerships with artists Zefren-M, Jocy and Trae Little Sky of TÓPA, and a second collaboration with Glasses and her brother, Tyler. The initiative pairs the company’s creative teams with artisans through an exchange that foregrounds craft traditions and cultural heritage. Further, the work adheres to the independent American brand’s “Design with Intent” efforts, intended to segue from points of inspiration to collaboration with communities that have historically informed Ralph Lauren designs.

Five percent of the purchase price of every item will benefit the Equal Justice Initiative’s hunger relief programming in Alabama, supporting local communities, including Gee’s Bend.