The brand further diversified when it began making clothes for babies and children as well as adults. Today, there are more than 600 Ralph Lauren stores around the world–including flagship stores in New York, London, Chicago, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, and more. The company is still under the helm of its founder and namesake, and he is committed to producing quality products that will constantly redefine American style. The history of Ralph Lauren as a designer began in 1967 when he created a line of men’s ties under the brand name Polo Ralph Lauren. The success of this new venture led the founder to continue expanding his brand to include an array of fashions for both men and women.
A testament to the merits of unwavering consistency, Polo Ralph Lauren’s rich history is as much a product of its own design as it is the product of the myriad cultural movements by whom it has been embraced. Toward the end of the 1990s, the more expensive Ralph Lauren line began to be abbreviated simply RL–which further set it apart from the Polo brand. In addition to making its own clothes and home items, the company also started licensing out its name to other manufacturers.
The legendary Ralph Lauren Polo shirt became a worldwide phenomenon shortly after its launch in 1972. The name “Polo” was a referenced to the famously upper-class sport and aimed to connect Ralph Lauren’s iteration of the shirt to a modern interpretation of the Polo player’s lifestyle. Since then, the Polo shirt and the Polo Ralph Lauren line have become synonymous with Ralph Lauren, and both are beloved by all. The shirt is a preppy staple, a streetwear signifier, and even a school uniform. As for the name Polo, it now lends itself to a renowned restaurant and countless musical and cultural references, to the point where even the original inspiration, the sport, takes a backseat. All Ralph Lauren itemsList of all popular kids’ and women’s brands on Swap.com.
Whether worn with the collar popped up, open and untucked, or dressed up under a suit jacket, the Polo embodies the optimism of American style. In Lauren’s words, “It’s honest and from the heart and hopefully that is what touches the diversity of all who wear it. Ralph Lauren launched his polo dress shirts Polo Ralph Lauren label in 1967 to sell ties, but quickly founded a menswear empire that epitomizes classic American style. Style is forever.’ Shop timeless, superior crafted shirts for every occasion, from classic Oxford shirts to boardroom-worthy stripes and weekend-ready checks.
That said, I didn’t notice the app spouting any advice to stop stretching so much and move on to the bench press. The onus is on you to pay attention to what the app’s showing you — and get back to it. “Train” separates out into My Workout and PoloTech Training, which includes three goal-specific workouts whose intensity auto-adjusts based on your biometric data. Basically, then, the shirt knows if you’re phoning it in.
All three are featured on readout “bubbles” once you launch the app. However, the real meat (and the best reason for spending $300 on a tee) can be found in the “train” and “track” tabs at the bottom. As you might expect, there’s a Ralph Lauren mobile app that syncs data from the PoloTech shirt. It’s iOS-only polo dress shirts at launch and currently doesn’t integrate with other third-party fitness applications. Ralph Laurenfirst showed off the biometric shirt at last year’s US Open tennis tournament, using ball boys as its lab rats. One top-ranking player, Marcos Giron, wore the smart shirt during practice as well.