Lauren Ralph biography
Date of birth : 1939-10-14
Date of death : -
Birthplace : New York, New York, USA
Nationality : American
Category : Arts and Entertainment
Last modified : 2010-05-27
Credited as : Fashion designer, COTY,
Although he started out designing and selling neckties in New York, Ralph Lauren had a dream, that fashion could be timeless, have natural quality, and seamlessly match life with lifestyle. His days of business studies and boutique sales took him quickly to the top as he cornered nearly every market, from designer bedsheets to indoor paint, and now cologne and perfume. Lauren for the past decade has been the most prosperous fashion line in the world.
Born as Ralph Lipschitz and growing up in the Bronx in New York, he literally began his business from the ground up. Having a working-class background, coupled with his ambitions and studies in business meant that he was in the right place at the right time when America’s fashionable mainstream was deciding where it would go next. He started by selling neck scarves that went against the more conservative wear of his youth. Therein, he knew that trends could be set and controlled. Following a successful beginning, he launched his Polo line of clothing that was a mix of the gentry of Britain with the more natural preference for comfort on the East Coast.
By the age of 40, he had already established a name for himself and introduced his first women’s line of clothing. He then overthrew the market in young men’s wear with not only cologne and sunglasses, but leather satchels, bags, and shoes. His ads were seen in America’s top fashion magazines, including Esquire, which has said that Ralph’s work, has shaped not only America’s fashion, but articulated its traditions.
In honor of his vast achievements worldwide, Lauren has been inaugurated into the COTY Hall of Fame and has even been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from American Fashion Designers. His taste, coupled with his careful planning and merchandising spunk led to the opening of over a thousand stores in the U.S. and abroad. He has been in many of his own advertisements and portrays the life of America’s rich like no other. Furthermore, Ralph Lauren has set up his business to outlast his own legacy by going public on Wall Street. However, soon after, his company was involved in the scandal that showed American retailers using workers in sweatshops overseas in order that their profit margins reach exponential proportions. As a result, many boycotted his clothing line. Presently, however, Ralph Lauren and his many different brands dubbed after his name are gaining the following that will again put them ahead of all other designers worldwide.
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.
