In 1977, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen wore Lauren’s clothes throughout their Oscar-winning film, Annie Hall. Lauren attended day school followed by the Manhattan Talmudical Academy, before eventually graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1957. He went to Baruch College, at the City University of New York where he studied business, although he dropped out after two years.
From 1962 to 1964 he served in the United States Army and left to work briefly for Brooks Brothers as a sales assistant before becoming a salesman for a tie company. At 28 years old, Lauren worked for the tie manufacturer Beau Brummell, where he convinced the company’s president to let him start his own line. Join our email list and be the first to hear about deals, trends, new brands and more. Plus, you’ll get exclusive offers and discounts on your favorite brands. The earliest edition was created in 1978 and the newest is from 2021.
Anybody who has ever swung at a golf ball and missed might be inclined to believe that what they’re doing wrong is maybe not wearing enough Ralph Lauren. As integral to golf as the putting green is to the game, Ralph Lauren’s Golf line features enough golf gear options to outfit a pebble beach. The riding jackets, the jodhpurs, the saddle-shaped bag, the stirrup-shaped watch collections, the Gia Carangi ad, the embroidered crests and wool training vests. The story goes that Ralph and his wife Ricky (an original horse-girl muse?) were shopping in a riding store one day. Ralph bought Ricky an authentic boy’s tweed hacking jacket, and whenever she’d wear it, women would compliment.
In 2014, the Ralph Lauren Corporation partnered with the Royal Marsden, the largest and most comprehensive cancer center in Europe, to develop a world-class breast cancer research facility. They opened the Royal Marsden Ralph Lauren Center for Breast Cancer Research in 2016. While navy, white, khaki and crimson are dominant colors, you find plenty of pink, coral, emerald and bright blue as accent colors. Stripes polo dress shirts and plaids are found throughout the line, adding classic appeal and energy to any outfit. Ralph Lauren designs and makes products in the apparel, home, accessories, and fragrance categories. He was preparing, he explained, for an event at Yankee Stadium in late September at which he was scheduled to throw out the first pitch, one of the many public commemorations of the 50th anniversary of his business.
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 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.
The Lauren Ralph Lauren 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.
In 2000 the Ralph Lauren Corporation launched its Volunteer Program, which energizes employees and creates meaningful connections with the communities in which they work. Ralph Lauren opened his first flagship in the Rhinelander mansion, on Madison Avenue and 72nd Street in New York City in 1986. Lauren re-created the building’s original opulence with a young design consultant named Naomi Leff, with whom he had previously worked on Ralph Lauren Home. The Polo Sport line was introduced in 1992 followed by over ten additional lines and acquired brands, including Ralph Lauren Purple Label in 1995 and Lauren Ralph Lauren in 1996.