Ralph Lauren, the American clothing designer and entrepreneur who is best known for his sportswear line, polo Ralph Lauren – used to dream. He would spend his afternoons as a teenager at the cinema dreaming of a better life. Today as a global fashion industry magnate, he attributes his success to being a dreamer.
Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Lifshitz in New York City on October 14, 1939. Youngest of four children, he shared a bedroom with his brothers, whilst growing up in the Bronx, New York in the 1940s and 50s. He was from an immigrant family from Belarus who struggled to make ends meet. At the age of 16, Ralph and his brother Jerry changed their last name to Lauren, having been teased consistently at school. Another brother, Lenny, retained the family name. Lauren attended Baruch College in Manhattan, where he studied business for two years. After a brief stint in the Army, Lauren took a sales job at Brooks Brothers.
Lauren never graduated from college, never went to fashion school, and would certainly not have seemed destined to head a global multi-billion-dollar luxurygoods company. While at high school he acquired a taste for expensive high-quality clothing, and began selling ties to his classmates to finance the passion. He has been a dreamer all the way. He dreamt of being a designer and he had a natural knack for designing. After serving in the US army in the early 60s, he worked as a salesman in a clothing store and started making and selling his own ties again on the side.
In 1967, he took a loan of 50,000 dollars to launch his brand, which he named Polo – not because he had ever played the sport, but because of what the name symbolised for him. “It was the sport of kings,” he had told the media once. “It was glamorous, sexy, and international.”
His ties caused a small revolution: they were different in fabric, width, and colour, and rapidly became the indispensable accessory for men looking for up-to-date elegance. “At the time men expressed themselves through their ties. A beautiful tie made it possible simultaneously to express quality, taste, and style.” The brand he established, Polo, is now one part of an empire that includes fragrances, home furnishings and luxury clothing. Lauren has used his personal fortune to amass a collection of rare and classic cars.
In 1967, Lauren began designing men’s neckties, branding them under the name “Polo” and selling them at large department stores, including Bloomingdale’s, one of the prominent fashion stores in the US. Lauren then expanded his designs to a full menswear line.
In 1969, Polo by Ralph Lauren was the first men’s fashion label to be sold in New York’s upmarket department store, Bloomingdale’s. Two years later Lauren launched a women’s line and the first Ralph Lauren boutique opened in Beverly Hills, California. Polo was on the way to becoming one of the most iconic lifestyle brands of the late twentieth century.
“Integrity of vision is very important,” Lauren says. “You should know who you’re selling to, what your marketing and advertising says about you, and who it’s speaking to. Me personally, I don’t try to please everyone. I understand who I am selling to and I work towards that vision all the time.”
Today, the company has stores in all the major fashion capitals of the world through which it sells its clothing, shoes, jewellery, home goods, accessories, and fragrances. American athletes competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London wore Lauren’s designs, and they are indeed still all his own designs. “I’m totally involved with all of my products,” he says. “Everything I make is my message and my goal has always been to make the things I love.”
In 1970, Lauren was awarded the Coty Award for his menswear designs. Following this recognition, he released a line of women’s suits tailored in a classic men’s style. In 1972, Lauren released a short-sleeve cotton shirt in 24 colors. This design, emblazoned with the Polo logo, became the brand’s signature look. Lauren subsequently broadened his brand to include a luxury clothing line called Ralph Lauren Purple, a home-furnishing collection called Ralph Lauren Home, and a collection of fragrances. Polo currently produces clothing for men, women and children. Lauren has also designed Olympic uniforms for Team USA. And following the release of his infamous Ralph Lauren polo shirt in 1972, the designer was transformed from cinema dreamer to worldwide fashion mogul.
Polo expanded rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s, opening boutiques across the United States and abroad. In 1984, Lauren opened the flagship store in New York’s Rhinelander Mansion. The company went public on June 11, 1997, traded under the symbol RL.
The success of Polo has earned Lauren a personal fortune estimated at $6.5 billion. This figure, if accurate, would make Lauren the 122nd richest person in the world.Lauren married receptionist Ricky Anne Low-Beer in New York City in 1964. The Laurens are the parents of three children: Andrew, David and Dylan. David Lauren is the only one of the three to have made his career at Polo. In 2011 he married Lauren Bush, the niece of former President George W. Bush and the granddaughter of former President George H.W. Bush. Andrew Lauren is a film producer, while Dylan Lauren is the owner of the New York City candy store Dylan’s Candy Bar.
Using his considerable fortune, Lauren has amassed a famous collection of rare automobiles. He has between 50 and 100 cars, including a 1930 Mercedes-Benz Count Trossi SSK known as “The Black Prince.” In 2005, Lauren allowed his collection to be displayed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. In 2011, a selection from his car collection was exhibited in Paris.
A major part of his success is that his brand has consistently invited others to share the world he’s created. “We were the innovators of lifestyle advertisements that tell a story, and the first to create stores that make it possible for customers to participate in that lifestyle. We don’t just sell clothes. We sell a dream and a vision of existence,” he says. “What we do is about living. It’s about living the best life you can and enjoying the fullness of life around you – from what you wear, to the way you live, to the way you love.”
Lauren says he still thrives on a challenge, and he’s eager for the next one. “”I built this multi-billion-dollar business with a tie,” he tells. “But the question I’m still asking myself is: What else can I do? How much further can I go? Could I build a media business? Do I have anything to say? Whenever I’ve done anything, I’ve had something to say about what I believe in. I get great pleasure in making my own statement. And my greatest joy in life is this: everything I do is all mine.”
Michael Gross, author of the biography Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren says ‘’that vision, that ability to step into a fantasy world, Ralph bought to the fashion business.’’
Ralph’s love for elegant style and fine living was rivalled only by his drive for success. And this determination to step away from his childhood misfortune was ever present from an early age.
The Daily Telegraph published an article in 1986 that ‘’he doesn’t like talking about his roots, but his towering ambition discovered itself early: Asked to list his goals in the De Witt Clinton High school’s class of 1957 yearbook, Ralph wrote: ‘millionaire.’’
Ralph once asked: ‘’People ask how can a Jewish kid from the Bronx do preppy clothes? Does it have to do with class and money? It has to do with dreams.’’ And influenced by this sense of dream, Lauren’s impressive empire has earned his style icon status.
His motto ‘we don’t sell an item, we sell a way of life’ certainly proved a point. The living legend stands for a dream – and it was a dream that certainly came true.
C. Jayathilleke is a freelance journalist, having work experience in a number of Newspaper Companies in Sri Lanka