Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company’s restaurant concepts include The Polo Bar in New York City; RL Restaurant in Chicago; Ralph’s in Paris; and Ralph’s polo dress shirts Coffee concept. Ralph Lauren Corporation sells its products to department stores, specialty stores, and golf and pro shops, as well as directly to consumers through its retail stores, concession-based shop-within-shops, and its digital commerce sites.
(The events began on September 7 with a blockbuster fashion show and black tie dinner at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park.) At 78 he was a bit unsure of his pitching arm, and while he had no illusions that he would be confused with C.C. Polo is hardly as all-American as Ralph Lauren would have you believe. In fact, the horseback croquet is one of the oldest equestrian sports in the world, and was first played in Persia sometime around the 6th century. In its early days, Polo was more of a military drilling exercise than it was a sport, invented with the intention of training cavalrymen, before it was taken up by nobility. Polo did a world tour of influence before gaining popularity in England, from which it was then brought to America. So really, the U.S. was one of the last countries to jump on the Polo trend bandwagon.
The polo dress shirts Rug Collection is inspired by the lifestyles represented in Ralph Lauren Home couture rugs, but at a more moderate price point. LRL rugs offer home decorators a choice of iconic Ralph Lauren lifestyle looks that match their personal taste and style. This collection features hand-knotted, hand-loomed and Axminster weaves. After a year of falling shares, Lauren stepped aside as chief executive of Ralph Lauren Corp. in September 2015 and appointed Stefan Larsson, the global president of The Gap’s Old Navy division, to take over as CEO. Lauren took on the role of executive chairman and chief creative officer of the company he founded.
Polo currently produces clothing for men, women and children and has hundreds of internationally placed stores, including factory stores that produce the majority of his sales domestically. The company launched its website and online shop in 2000 as polo.com by RL Media . In 2007, Ralph Lauren Corporation acquired the NBC share of RL Media and the web site was relaunched as ralphlauren.com. In 2008, Ralph Lauren Corporation launched a brand called American Living, exclusively for JCPenney. It was the largest cross-category brand launch in the history of Ralph Lauren and JCPenney. On September 29, 2015, it was announced that Stefan Larsson would replace the company’s founder, Ralph Lauren, as CEO in November.
In 2000 the company’s Web site, Polo.com , was introduced, allowing online access to all Ralph Lauren products. Lauren’s charitable contributions continued with the creation of the Polo Volunteer Program and the contribution of $5 million to establish the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention and Care at North General Hospital in Harlem, New York. Lauren lived the image he projected, and he was often featured with his family in magazines devoted to lives of the rich and famous. One of the secrets of Lauren’s success lay in his attention to detail, always checking product quality and maintaining tight control over the brand image he crafted so carefully. He had seven Coty design awards and was inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame in 1986.
Paints were launched the same year, along with instruction videos and all the tools needed to create the living environment of one’s choice. By 1997 investment bankers were fighting for the opportunity to help Lauren put his company on the stock market. In 1970, Lauren was awarded the Coty Award for his men’s designs.
As his peers in New York retire or leave the main stage, Ralph Lauren looms large. At the age of 16, Ralph and his brother Jerry changed their last name to Lauren after having been teased consistently at school. Ralph was known for his distinctive fashion sense as a teen, finding inspiration in screen icons like Fred Astaire and Cary Grant while having a taste for both classic preppy wear and vintage looks.
He went on to attend Baruch College in Manhattan, where he studied business for two years. After a brief stint in the Army, Lauren took on a sales job at Brooks Brothers. In 1971 Lauren opened his first retail store in Beverly Hills, California, building toward a total of 116 Polo-Ralph Lauren stores in the United States as well as 1,300 boutiques . In 1986 he made fashion retailing history with a large megastore housed in the elegant former Rhinelander Mansion in New York.
Elevate your accessories with an array of leather cross body bags, shoulder bags, tote bags and backpacks or smarten up your footwear with a white trainers, boots and loafers in black or brown. Lauren is known for capitalizing on an aspirational style and key insignia which evokes the British gentry while also referencing the aesthetics of the American upper class. His fashion ideas have been criticized by some for not being particularly innovative while also embraced by scores of consumers who prefer more approachable looks. Lauren subsequently broadened his brand to include a luxury clothing line known as Ralph Lauren Purple, a rough and rustic line of apparel dubbed RRL, a home-furnishing collection called Ralph Lauren Home and a set of fragrances.