The authentic and timeless world of Ralph Lauren
November 2025
RL/Culture

Letter Jacket

Introducing our new very limited-edition collection with the U.S. Postal Service, where heritage-inspired pieces honor America’s most enduring institution.
By Paul L. Underwood
Let us now praise a famous, if humble, institution: the U.S. Postal Service. Founded in 1775, a year before the nation itself, it has served Americans in times of war and peace, depression and prosperity, from sea to shining sea and beyond. Initially created to offer secure back-channel communications to Revolutionaries—the British were known to be opening Americans’ mail, along with collecting taxes brought about by the notorious Stamp Act—the U.S. Postal Service has connected Americans ever since, whether delivering letters, cards, or packages, particularly at this time of year. In the process, it also helped democracy flower, ensuring that even those in the country’s farthest reaches could have access to newspapers and magazines printed far away. No less an observer than Alexis de Tocqueville called it “the great link between minds” in 1831, and that was before the Pony Express began serving the frontier on horseback, an iconic image that still resonates nearly two centuries later.
And so, to honor the institution’s quarter-millennium of service, Polo Ralph Lauren is celebrating the independence and optimism that has long defined the American spirit with a collection created with USPS, inspired by pieces from its archives, and by its legacy and storied history of bringing people and families together across our country. The collection comprises three pieces, each connecting to different eras of USPS history. The first is a carrier coat, a double-breasted wool twill piece crafted in America, and created in close collaboration with USPS historians. There are functional details, like reinforced shoulder padding (to support a carrier bag) and a diamond-quilted interior lining for warmth. After all, neither snow nor rain, among other meteorological challenges, can slow a postal officer, as the unofficial motto says.
Polo Ralph Lauren USPS Carrier Coat
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Other details include brass buttons—faithful recreations made from the original design and mold by the same Waterbury manufacturer—and burgundy cording trim that references the transition from black to burgundy in the 1950s. Each cuff includes star patches that represent an employee’s tenure, along with embroidery of the years 1775 and 2025. At the shoulder, there’s a horse-and-rider emblem that’s been redesigned to face forward, a symbol of optimism, and a version first used by the USPS 70 years ago to the date. And finally, on the inside, you’ll find a label with manufacturing and serial numbers modeled after those on vintage jackets. Speaking of carrier bags, the second piece is exactly that, paying homage to the messenger bags used from the late 1800s through the 1970s. Each is made using leather from Chicago’s historic Horween Leather company, established in 1905. Traditional elements include adjustable leather shoulder straps and a fold-over design with a buckled leather strap closure. Each bag is embossed with a commemorative “U.S. Mail” logo, replicating the vintage original, and its brass hardware has been given a vintage finish that will no doubt age as well as the service itself.
Polo Ralph Lauren USPS Carrier Mesh Cap
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Polo Ralph Lauren USPS Carrier Messenger Bag
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To top off the collection, both literally and figuratively, the third piece is a mesh trucker cap in an elevated fabric: worsted Shetland wool. It, too, is made in the USA, and features that same embroidered patch of forward-facing horse-and-rider. These highly limited pieces are available through The Ralph Lauren App and at select retail shops including the men’s flagship on Madison Avenue in NYC, the Prince Street shop in NYC, and shops in Chicago, Boston, Georgetown, and King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Like the service it honors, this collection delivers.
Paul L. Underwood is a writer based in Austin, Texas, and the former executive editor of RalphLauren.com.
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