Ralph Lauren was born October 14, 1939. He is an American fashion designer and business executive best-known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.
Born Ralph Rueben Lifshitz in The Bronx, New York, to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, from Belarus, Pinsk: Fraydl Kotlar and Frank Lifshitz, a house painter, from a young age he started working after school to earn money to buy suits.
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. He also gained recognition for his design after he was contracted to provide clothing styles for the movie The Great Gatsby.
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, which had formerly been the home of Babe and Bill Paley.
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 billion for the fiscal year 2009 with liquidity of about $1 billion. 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.
Ralph and his wife, Ricky, have two sons and a daughter: Andrew Lauren (born 1969, New York City), David Lauren (born 1971) and Dylan Lauren (born 1974). 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.
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.
(source: Wikipedia)
