Website: www.ralphlauren.com
In 1939 Ralph Lauren was born in New York. His name was originally Lipschitz, but his father, a mural and house painter, changed the family name to Lauren when Ralph was in his teens.
He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx and night classes at the City College of New York, where he took business courses. He also worked part time at Alexander as a stock boy and salesman. He then served 6 months in the Army.
In 1964 he joined Brooks Brothers, the establishment outfitters in New York.
This same year, he also met and married his wife Ricky, who was from Vienna and studying at college. They now have 2 sons Andrew and David and a daughter Dylan.
Dylan has an Upper East side Candy Store, Andrew is a Film producer and David works for Polo, expanding and refining the company's internet presence.
In 1967 he joined Beau Brummell Neckwear, where he created wide, hand-made, expensive neckties. He tried to sell these to Bloomingdales, but they wanted him to take his name tag off and make the ties narrower, which of course he refused. Within a few months, when his ties were selling briskly in competitive stores, they agreed to carry his ties exactly as he had designed them. His brand name was POLO.
In 1968 it became apparent that the new size tie, needed a new shirt and a new suit. Ralph Lauren launched his POLO menswear line, featuring the natural shoulder line of Ivy League (East Coast college) men with wider lapels.
In 1970 he won the Coty Menswear Award.
Ralph was dissatisfied with the clothes he bought for his wife and so in 1971 he decided to branch out into women's wear. He opened his first store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. He produced a collection of tailored womens shirts. In 1972 he launched a complete range of garments for women, made of cashmere, cotton and tweed. His clothesprojected a purely American style of casual chic. He dressed women in literal versions of menswear, pleated trousers, wing collars, pleated shirt fronts, and tweed hacking jackets.
In 1973 Lauren was asked to design the men's clothes in the film "The Great Gatsby" and it won him the press coverage which up till then had eluded him. In 1977 he designed for the film "Annie Hall", clothing both Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. This made him responsible for the most important fashion archetypes of the 70's.
All of his collections have themes, in 1978 Ralph Lauren introduced the casual/sophisticated "prairie look", denim skirts worn over layers of white cotton petticoats, fringed buckskin jackets and full sleeved soft blouses. In 1980 he showed hooded capes, linen ruffled blouses, madras cotton shirts and full skirts as part of the "American frontier" look.
In 1983 he went where no designer had gone before. He started his home collection of sheets, towels, flatware and furniture. He created products that revolved around themes. Ralph Lauren success has been due to his ability to sell a thoroughbred image to the public. With Ralph Lauren, you are not buying a product, you are buying into a lifestyle and
you become part of a larger traditional world.
Ralph is very socially conscious. He worries about the world's problems. In 1989 Ralph Lauren founded the Nina Hyde Centre for Breast Cancer in Washington, USA and since then has helped raise millions of dollars to fight this disease through various initiatives. He himself had a brain tumour in 1988 which was successfully removed, so he understands the pain and fear of cancer.
In 1992 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, which was presented to him by Audrey Hepburn. She said "if someone says you are very Ralph Lauren, you know exactly what they mean." In the same year Ralph Lauren outfitted the American team for America's Cup yacht race. In 1993 Polo Sport store was opened across from the flagship store on Madison Avenue, New York and in 1995 Ralph Lauren introduced several new lines such as Purple Label tailored mens suiting, Ralph Lauren paint collection, infants and toddlers wear, and the Polo Jeans Company.
For two years 1995 and 1996 he received the CFDA award, one for Mens wear designer of the year and the second for Womens wear.
By 1997 when he was selling more than $ 5 billion per year, with 155 shops around the world, employing more than 3,000 people Ralph Lauren went public with his company on the New York stock exchange. His estimated net worth is around $ l billion. He has homes in Colorado, New York, Jamaica and Long Island.
Ralph Lauren's Style
He says: "my goal in design is to achieve the best reality imaginable. I believe in design that has integrity, design that lasts, and whatever it is, it must be part of the lifestyle and become more personal with time." His designs blend romance, innovation and tradition with inspirations that travel across time and culture: African safaris, English aristocracy, Parisian café life, Old Hollywood, the Western frontier, Russian revolutionaries, Native American cultures, Eastern prep schools and competitive sports.
Ralph Lauren's vision of American style, prevails with classic grace and utmost attention to detail. His success lies in his ability to sell a thorough bred image to the masses.
In the year 2000, the city of New York decided to honour American fashion designers by placing bronze plaques along 7th Avenue, the great street of fashion in New York. This has been called the "FASHION WALK OF FAME." Ralph Lauren was one of those honoured, and here is a picture of his plaque.
Ralph Lauren was awarded the 2002 VH1/Vogue Lifetime Achievement Award recently, the equivalent of a standing ovation.
Spring/Summer 2003
Ralph Lauren presented his Spring/Summer 2003 collection at the New York Fashion Week in September 2002, which was greeted with aclaim. This dress on the left, is from that collection.
Fall 2003
Ralph Lauren's success has always been from creating modern images from dreams of old England. Instead of the patrician surroundings of his uptown showroom, for Fall 2003 Lauren chose the Chelsea studio of photographer Annie Liebowitz and his models showed his designs against the backdrop of a red brick wall. His predictable polished perfection of glam white and silver gowns were shown. He said he was inspired by the paintings of John Singer Sargent in the 19th century. Lauren definitely had the edge this season.
Spring/Summer 2004
Ralph Lauren's Spring collection was shown during New York Fashion Week in September 2003. A dress from the show is shown here on the left.
Since it was for summer, the show included tennis dresses, clothes for watching polo or cricket and striped blazers.
Twenties style drop-waisted minis were mixed with full-skirted cocktail dresses. He still has what it takes to please the ladies with ravishing silk and chiffon dresses.
Fall/Winter 2004
The Lauren Fall collection was shown during New York Fashion Week in February 2004.
Ralph showed his usual perfectly cut elegant clothes in excellent fabrics, worn by flawless models. He also followed the trendy tweed seen everywhere this season, and used cashmere generously. He accessorized with chunky antique Navajo belts, necklaces and earrings.
Spring/Summer 2005
During New York Fashion Week in September 2004, Ralph Lauren presented his Spring collection. An outfit from the show is pictured on the left.
Ralph was inspired by Hollywood classic glamour, particularly in the 1920s and 1930s. The focus was on dresses fitted to the body or pants with bead embellishment. Little angora capes in pastel colours gave the collection a prettiness, lots of ruffles cascading down skirts and an open-air freshness to a blazer over wide palazzo pants or over satin shorts, as shown here on the left. Lots of white appeared.
Fall/Winter 2005
The Ralph Lauren Fall/Winter collection was shown during New York Fashion Week in February 2005.
He was inspired by his personal collection of vintage cars, 13 of which go on display at the Museum of Fine Arts.
His leather jackets and skirts reminded 9one of the elegant curves of early Mercedes automobiles.
Matte jersey was mixed with silky charmeuse on simple columns and Art Deco beading decorated the bodice and trim of suits. A pleated black tulle dress was worthy of old-style Hollywood.
Ralph Lauren joined with many other designers to create a red dress for the Heart Truth Charity show which opened New York fashion week.
His red dress was worn by Sarah, Duchess of York, shown here on the left.
Spring/Summer 2006
New York
Ralph Lauren presented his Spring/Summer 2006 collection during New York Fashion Week in September 2005. Two outfits from the collection are shown on the right.
It was a delicious collection of nautical looks, touched with gliding. Slim tailoring in stripes, as well as spilling ruffles down the skirts. A striped seersucker evening gown had a foam of white broderie anglaise down the back. Other naval looks included a snug admiral jacket and gold espadrilles. He added a Mexican shawl in fiery red and sunny yellow and denim patchwork dresses.
| Childrenswear | Menswear |
| Gloves | Footwear |
| Leather goods | Scarves |
| Lingerie | Mens underwear |
| Jewellery | Eyewear |
| Hosiery | Handbags and luggage |
| Furnishings | Table and bed linen |
| Paint | Wallpaper and rugs |
| Chinaware/Crystal | Beauty products |
click below:
Ralph Lauren: The Man, the Vision,
the Style by Colin McDowell
Ralph Lauren: The Man Behind the Mistique by Jeffrey Trachtenberg
Ralph Lauren, Master of Fashion (Wizards of Business) by Anne Canadeo
Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren by Michael Gross
American Family Style by Ralph Lauren and Mary Carter
2006
Lauren (W)