On Saturday night in Manhattan, Ralph Lauren took over the Bank of New York building, a 1920s edifice on Wall Street just across from Cipriani and cater-corner to the stock exchange, transformed in 2015 from financial headquarters to cavernous event space . And inside he built a nightclub.

There were soaring Art Deco columns framing enormous arched mirrors; little round tables covered in crisp white tablecloths beneath rotund black-and-white chandeliers. There were special Ralph’s matchbooks and special Ralph’s cocktails.

There was a stage, with a 16-piece jazz band. There were potato chips and corned beef sandwiches. There was nostalgia bathed in the refracted light of a zillion beaded flapper dresses.