Polo Ralph Lauren Multicolor Sweater Collection Review: The Collar Field Says None, the Zipper Says Otherwise

The Polo Ralph Lauren multicolor sweater collection is listed as a single product — SKU 7705117792, $22.69 USD, marked down from $24.94, in stock — but the spec sheet reads more like a small catalogue than one knit. Our testing team ordered two size-L samples, in the listed navy and grey codes, and wore them for three weeks because three fields in the listing contradict the photographs, and one contradicts itself.

What arrived and how it was packed

Both samples arrived folded in individual poly bags inside a plain mailer, with no retail box and no brand packaging to speak of. That is normal at this price. The smell out of the bag was neutral — no solvent or dye sharpness — and it aired out completely within a day. The hangtag and neck label identify the brand and the size; the colour code appears on a small sticker rather than on the woven label, which matters when a listing spans this many codes.

The listing argues with itself on the collar

Three adjacent fields describe the neckline in three different ways. The collar type is listed as collarless, the neckline shape as crew neck, and the placket as a zipper. On our samples all three are, awkwardly, true. There is no separate fold-over collar piece and no stand-up band beyond a narrow ribbed edge, so "collarless" is defensible; the opening is round when zipped, so "crew" is defensible; and the closure is a metal zip that opens the neckline into a shallow V of roughly a hand's width. In other words, this is best understood as a quarter-zip pullover with a crew-style neckline, and you should picture it that way rather than as either a plain crewneck or a track-style zip jacket.

The same ambiguity runs through the surface description. The pattern field reads solid, while the style detail and craft fields read print. Both are accurate at once: the body is a solid ground colour, and the graphic — a bear motif, a polo-player silhouette, or varsity-style lettering depending on the piece — is applied as a surface print rather than knitted into the panel. If you expected an intarsia knit with the motif worked into the yarn, the construction here is not that.

Fabric, weight and the 400 g claim

Field	Listed value
Main fabric	Cotton
Construction	Pullover, crew neckline, long sleeves, zip placket, zip pocket
Thickness	Regular
Fit	Loose, unisex styling, teen size range
Sizes	S, M, L, XL
Measurement tolerance	1–2 cm
Listed weight	400 g and above
Season	Spring 2025
Price	$22.69 USD (from $24.94)

The stated 400 g and above figure is the one number in the spec sheet that promises something concrete. Our size-L sample sat at the low end of that band on the lab scale — consistent with the claim, but not comfortably clear of it. Treat that as a single-sample observation, not a guarantee that every one of the roughly hundred colour codes weighs the same, since print coverage varies between motifs and a darker, heavier print can add measurable grams.

Our ten-point check, adapted to knitwear

Our standard inspection routine was built for sneakers, so for a knit we swapped the midsole and outsole steps for construction points that actually fail on a sweater: shoulder and side seams, cuff and hem ribbing, and the collar edge. What we checked:

• Label and packaging: correct size and code on the sticker, no mismatched label.
• Smell: neutral on arrival, no dye or adhesive odour.
• Stitching: shoulder and side seams even, no loose thread tails or skipped runs.
• Ribbing: cuffs and hem held their shape after washing and drying flat.
• Zip hardware: the neck zip and the chest pocket zip both ran smoothly; the pocket zip teeth stayed aligned under load.
• Print: motif edges stayed crisp with no cracking after three laundry cycles.
• Colour: both codes matched the listing photographs in daylight.
• Flat measurement: taken across the chest, at the length, and along the sleeve.
• Silhouette: checked on two testers of different builds.
• Wear: over 20 hours per sample, including walking and light running.

Fit and sizing

The listing gives S through XL, a loose cut, a 1–2 cm tolerance, and a teen fit range — which means adult buyers are effectively sizing into a youth-oriented block and should expect the body to run short rather than narrow.

The bigger caution is external to this listing. Buyer reports across the brand show knit sweaters fitting noticeably differently even at the same labelled size, and some shoppers who normally take a large in Ralph Lauren tops size down in sweaters because the knits run roomier and relax with wear:

"The blue one on the left fits me perfectly whereas the grey one is much smaller somehow. Blue seems a bit thicker and weighs a little more." — r/RalphLauren

Style guides describe the brand's relaxed cuts as intentionally slightly loose, which lines up with the loose fit claimed here. None of that tells you what this specific listing measures, though. Ask the seller for flat chest, body length and sleeve measurements in your size before ordering.

A hundred colour codes, four real colours

The colour list runs from code 298 to code 397, which looks like a hundred options. It is not. The codes cycle white, grey, navy and black in rotation:

Code	Listed colour
298	White
299	Grey
300	Navy
301	Black
302	White
…	Pattern repeats to code 397

What actually distinguishes codes of the same colour is the printed motif, not the base shade: bear graphic, player silhouette or varsity lettering, in different sizes and placements. That means you cannot judge a code by its colour name alone. Before ordering, ask for a live photograph of your exact code rather than relying on the shared image set, because the photographs and the code list are not mapped one to one anywhere in the listing.

Three weeks of wear

The loose cut layers easily over a tee or an oxford shirt without bunching at the shoulders, and the zip placket turns out to be the most useful part of the design — partly open it reads as a casual layer, fully zipped it behaves like a crewneck. The cotton holds a soft hand after washing with no pilling at the underarms, though a loose cotton knit this thin stretches slightly at the cuffs by the end of a full day. It is a spring layer, as the listing says. It is not a winter sweater, and the 400 g figure should not be read as insulation against cold.

What we would confirm before ordering

Ask for flat chest, length and sleeve measurements; ask which photograph corresponds to your chosen code; and ask whether the motif on that code is the bear, the player or the lettering. Those three answers resolve almost every gap in this listing, and without them you are buying a solid cotton quarter-zip and hoping the print is the one you pictured.