Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren in his office 1979 by Edgar de Evia
Born October 14, 1939 (1939-10-14) (age 71)
The Bronx, New York, United States
Nationality American
Education Baruch College, City University of New York
Labels

Ralph Lauren

Polo Ralph Lauren Rugby Ralph Lauren

Club Monaco
Religion Jewish[1]

Ralph Lauren (born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer and business executive; best-known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.

Contents

Early life

Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Rueben Lifshitz in The Bronx, New York, to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, from Pinsk, Belarus:[2] Fraydl (Kotlar) and Frank Lifshitz, a house painter.[3]

From a young age he started working after school to earn money to buy suits.

Ralph Lifshitz attended the Salanter Academy Jewish Day School followed by MTA (now known as the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy), before eventually graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1957.[4][5] In MTA Lauren was known by his classmates for selling ties to his fellow students. in a moment of spontaneity, when asked what he wanted to do i[6]n his Clinton yearbook he stated under his picture that he wanted to be a millionaire.[7] At the age of 16, Ralph's brother Jerry changed their last name from Lifshitz to Lauren (although Ralph's brother Lenny retained the name Lifshitz). In the summertime Ralph Lifshitz attended Camp Roosevelt (Monticello)[8]

He went to the Baruch School of Business and Civic Administration of the City College of New York (now known as Baruch College) where he studied business, although he dropped out after two years. From 1962 to 1964 he served in the United States Army. After his discharge in 1968, he married Ricky Low-Beer. He did not attend fashion school, but worked for Brooks Brothers as a salesman. In 1967, with the financial backing of Norman Hilton, Lauren opened a necktie store where he also sold ties of his own design, under the label "Polo."[9] He later purchased the name from Hilton.

Polo Ralph Lauren

In 1970, Ralph Lauren won the COTY Award for his menswear line. Around that same time he released a line of women's suit that were tailored in a classic men's style, which was when the first Polo emblem was seen. It was on the cuff of the women's suit. Ralph Lauren, released Polo's famous short sleeve mesh shirt with the Polo logo in 1972. It came out in 24 colors and soon became a classic.[10] He also gained recognition for his design after he was contracted to provide clothing styles for the movie The Great Gatsby.

Polo Ralph Lauren store on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago

In 1984, he transformed the Rhinelander Mansion, former home of the photographer Edgar de Evia and Robert Denning, into the flagship store for Polo Ralph Lauren. This same year de Evia photographed the cover feature story for House & Garden on the Lauren home Round Hill in Jamaica,[11] which had formerly been the home of Babe and Bill Paley.[12] On June 11, 1997, Polo Ralph Lauren became a public company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RL.

By 2007 Ralph Lauren had over 35 boutiques in United States. There were 23 locations that carried Ralph Lauren Purple Label, including Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston, Charlotte, Wisconsin Avenue, Chicago, Costa Mesa, Dallas, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas, Manhasset, New York, Palm Beach, Palo Alto, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Short Hills, and Troy. The Financial Times reported in its edition of January 2–3, 2010 that the firm had revenues of 5 Bln for the fiscal year 2009 with liquidity of about 1Bln. The article addresses succession plans and the future of the overall business.

In 2010, Ralph Lauren was decorated Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in Paris.

Surgery

Sometime in early 1987, he was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. In April 1987 he underwent surgery to remove the tumor and made a full recovery.[13]

Family

Ralph and his wife, Ricky, have two sons and a daughter: Andrew Lauren (b. 1969, New York City), David Lauren (b. 1971) and Dylan Lauren (b. 1974). Andrew is a film producer, David is an executive at Polo Ralph Lauren and Dylan owns and operates an upscale candy store, Dylan's Candy Bar, at 60th Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan.

Automobile collection

Ralph Lauren is also well known as a collector of classic automobiles. A large portion of his automobiles are held in his large estate in Katonah, NY. He owns a Ferrari 250 GTO, a McLaren F1 GTR LM, a Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, and, more recently, a Bugatti Veyron among others. His cars have won best in show at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance multiple times. In 2005 his collection was displayed at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.[14]

Net worth

As of 2010, Forbes estimates his wealth at $4.6 billion, which would make Ralph Lauren the 173rd richest person in the world.[15]

Legacy

Notes

  1. ↑ [1]
  2. ↑ Ralph Lauren returns to his Russian roots
  3. ↑ Gross (2004), p. 28
  4. ↑ Staff. "Selling a Dream of Elegance and the Good Life", Time (magazine), September 1, 1986. Accessed September 15, 2009. "At DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, Lauren attended business classes but paid little attention to studies. His adolescent idols were British and American style setters: the Duke of Windsor, for example, and Katharine Hepburn, who stole the show in The Philadelphia Story with her pants-and-pearls look."
  5. ↑ "DeWitt Clinton High School, Bronx, New York". http://www.nndb.com/edu/788/000095503. Retrieved 2007-07-30. 
  6. ↑ http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/8267
  7. ↑ Gross (2004), p. 38
  8. ↑ Camp Roosevelt Discussion Forum
  9. ↑ Polo/Ralph Lauren Corporation - International Directory of Company Histories
  10. ↑ Gross (2004), 186.
  11. ↑ House & Garden, October, 1984
  12. ↑ Domino magazine's "Editor's Pick — Babe Paley, featuring a photo of Paley at her Round Hill Villa in Jamaica online retrieved September 25, 2007
  13. ↑ New York Times report on Ralph Lauren's brain tumor surgery
  14. ↑ "Speed, Style, and Beauty: Cars from the Ralph Lauren Collection". Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 2005-03-06. http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/sub.asp?key=15&subkey=500. Retrieved 2010-04-07. 
  15. ↑ "Forbes.com topic page on Ralph Lauren". Forbes. http://billionaires.forbes.com/topic/Ralph_Lauren. Retrieved 2010-04-05. 

References

External links

Grands couturiers
Contemporary
Adeline André  · Giorgio Armani · Bijan · Pierre Cardin · Roberto Cavalli · Nino Cerruti · André Courrèges · Collette Dinnigan · Alber Elbaz · Julien Fournié · John Galliano · Jean-Paul Gaultier · Hubert de Givenchy · Anne Valérie Hash · Carolina Herrera · Donna Karan · Calvin Klein · Christian Lacroix · Karl Lagerfeld · Ralph Lauren · Issey Miyake · Jenny Packham · Miuccia Prada · Oscar de la Renta · Chado Ralph Rucci · Dominique Sirop · Franck Sorbier · Anna Sui · Kenzo Takada · Riccardo Tisci · Valentino · Emanuel Ungaro · Vera Wang · Vivienne Westwood
Historic
Hardy Amies · Cristóbal Balenciaga · Pierre Balmain · Coco Chanel · Jean Desses · Christian Dior · Jacques Doucet · Jacques Fath · Gianfranco Ferré · Irene Galitzine · Grès · Norman Hartnell · Charles James · Guy Laroche · Jeanne Lanvin · Lucien Lelong · Mainbocher · Alexander McQueen · Edward Molyneux · Jeanne Paquin · Paul Poiret · Emilio Pucci · Nina Ricci · Yves Saint Laurent · Elsa Schiaparelli · Mila Schön · Gianni Versace · Madeleine Vionnet · Charles Frederick Worth