Lauren will stay on as executive chairman and chief creative officer. Spanning the range from casual sportswear to formal wear, the company’s clothing and fragrances reflect a classic American style, and often impart a rugged, outdoorsy image. Many garments and fragrances incorporate a logo with a pony, with or without a polo player astride. Originally conceived as a women’s wear spinoff of the preppy, all-American Ralph Lauren brand, Lauren Ralph Lauren’s popularity has grown to include stylish menswear, big & tall, preppy styles for children, handbags, shoes and accessories. Explore our collection of Lauren Ralph Lauren clothing for work, special occasions and casual wear clothes for the entire family.
In 1992 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of American Fashion Designers and a tribute for twenty-five years of impact on American style from the Woolmark Awards. The Council of Fashion Designers later elected him Designer of the Year in 1996. The youngest of four children, Ralph Lifshitz was born in the Bronx, New York, on October 14, 1939. While attending DeWitt Clinton High School in New York, he worked part-time for New York department stores, saving his money to buy clothes.
Polo expanded rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s, opening boutiques across the United States and abroad. In 1986, Lauren opened his company’s flagship store in New York’s Rhinelander Mansion on Madison Avenue, which has since become flanked by several other Lauren stores. With Goldman Sachs having purchased more than a quarter of the company in the mid-1990s, Polo Ralph Lauren went public on June 11, 1997, trading under the symbol RL. As of October 2015, the success of Polo polo dress shirts has earned Lauren a personal fortune estimated at more than $6 billion, ranking Lauren among the 200 richest people in the world. In 1967, while working for Beau Brummell, Lauren began designing his own men’s neckties with a wider cut, branding them under the name “Polo” and selling them at large department stores, including Bloomingdale’s. Lauren was able to more fully develop his business with a $30,000 loan, eventually expanding his designs to a full menswear line.
The brand he established, Polo, is now one part of an international empire that includes fragrances, home furnishings, luxury clothing and dining based on a fantasy aesthetic of upper-crust life. Lauren, a funder of cancer research initiatives, has also used his personal fortune to amass a collection of rare and classic cars as well as a massive Colorado ranch. The Lauren Ralph Lauren collection offers elegantly designed women’s clothing. The established brand has a collection that features sophisticated dresses, blouses and denim for day or work. The line also has dressy evening gowns, accessories, handbags and shoes.
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 lauren t shirt 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.