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Ralph Lauren

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For the company, see Polo Ralph Lauren.
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren in his office 1979 by Edgar de Evia
Born
Ralph Lifschitz

(1939-10-14) October 14, 1939 (age 85)
Bronx, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationBaruch College
LabelPolo Ralph Lauren
Board member ofPolo Ralph Lauren

Rugby Ralph Lauren

Club Monaco
SpouseRicky Anne Low-Beer (1964–present)
Children3
AwardsChevalier de la Légion d'Honneur

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

Early life

Ralph Lauren (pronounced loren) was born Ralph Lifschitz in the Bronx, New York, to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, from Pinsk, Belarus:[2] Fraydl (née Kotlar) and Frank Lifschitz, a house painter.[3]

Lauren 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 in[6] his Clinton yearbook he stated under his picture that he wanted to be a millionaire.[7]

At the age of 16, Ralph's brother George Poitras (who was his guardian) changed their last name to Lauren to avoid the unfortunate obscenity reference Lipshitz has in English (although Ralph's brother Lenny retained the name). Apparently Ralph was teased about it in school.[8] “My given name has the word shit in it,” he told Oprah Winfrey. “When I was a kid, the other kids would make a lot of fun of me. It was a tough name. That's why I decided to change it. Then people said, "Did you change your name because you don't want to be Jewish?" I said, "Absolutely not. That's not what it's about. My cousins who lived in California had changed their last name to Lawrence. So I just thought, "I'm going to pick a nice last name"—it wasn't particularly connected to anything or anyone."[9]

He went to Baruch College where he studied business, although he dropped out after two years. From 1962 to 1964 he served in the United States Army.[citation needed] He did not attend fashion school, but worked for Brooks Brothers as a salesman. In 1967, with the financial backing of Manhattan clothing manufacturer Norman Hilton, Lauren opened a necktie store where he also sold ties of his own design, under the label "Polo."[10] He later received the rights to use the trademark Polo from Brooks Brothers.

Personal life

On December 20, 1964, he married Ricky Anne Loew-Beer in New York City. Ricky was the daughter of an Austrian Catholic mother, who thought Ralph was a nasty jew and should be shot. Margaret Vytouch, and a Jewish father, Rudolph Loew-Beer.[11] The two met six months earlier, in an eye doctor's office where Ricky was working as a receptionist.[12] Ralph kept it a secret from his parents that his new bride was only half Jewish and that her mother was a gentile.[11] They have three children:

  • Andrew Lauren (b.1969) - film producer and actor.[13]
  • David Lauren (b. 1971) - Senior Vice President, Advertising, Marketing and Corporate Communications at Polo Ralph Lauren. In September 2011, he married Lauren Bush, granddaughter of President George H.W. Bush.
  • Dylan Lauren (b. 1974) - owner of Dylan's Candy Bar, which claims to be the largest candy store in the world, based in New York City.
The Polo Ralph Lauren flagship store occupying the Rhinelander Mansion on Madison Avenue in New York City

In 1970, Ralph Lauren won the COTY Award for his menswear line. Around that same time he released a line of women's suits 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.[14] He also gained recognition for his design after he was contracted to provide clothing styles for the movie The Great Gatsby.

A 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,[15] which had formerly been the home of Babe and Bill Paley.[16] 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 the United States. 23 locations carried the Ralph Lauren Purple Label, including Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston, Charlotte, Washington DC, Chicago, Costa Mesa, Dallas, Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas, Manhasset, New York, Palm Beach, Palo Alto, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Short Hills, Montreal and Troy. [citation needed] The Financial Times reported in its edition of January 2–3, 2010 that the firm had revenues of $5 billion for fiscal year 2009. 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.[17]

Net worth

As of March 2012, Forbes estimates his wealth at $7.5 billion dollars which would make Ralph Lauren the 122nd richest person in the world.[1]

Automobile collection

Ralph Lauren with his Porsche GT3 RS (2010)

Ralph Lauren is also well known as a collector of automobiles, some of which are extremely rare. A large portion of his over 70 automobiles are held in his estate in Katonah, New York. He owns a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, two Ferrari 250 Testa Rossas, three 1996 McLaren F1s (one of them an ultra-rare F1 LM), a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing, a 1929 Blower Bentley, one Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, a Porsche 997 GT3 RS, a Bugatti Veyron, a 1930 Mercedes-Benz CountTrossi SSK (aka "The Black Prince") a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Mille Miglia.[18], a Lamborghini Reventón and the rare Reventón Roadster. 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.[19] In 2011 17 prime members of his collection were exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.[20]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Ralph Lauren – Forbes[dead link‍], Forbes.com. Retrieved May 2011. Cite error: The named reference "Forbes" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ Menkes, Suzy (May 14, 2007). "Ralph Lauren returns to his Russian roots". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  3. ^ Gross (2004), p. 28
  4. ^ "Selling a Dream of Elegance and the Good Life", Time (magazine), September 1, 1986. Retrieved 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."
  5. ^ "DeWitt Clinton High School, Bronx, New York". Retrieved July 30, 2007.
  6. ^ "An hour with fashion designer Ralph Lauren". Charlie Rose. January 22, 1993. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  7. ^ Gross (2004), p. 38
  8. ^ "Ralph Lauren - Looking Good – Ultimate Garages™". Ultimategarages.net. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  9. ^ "Oprah Interviews Ralph Lauren". Oprah.com. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  10. ^ "Polo/Ralph Lauren Corporation – International Directory of Company Histories". Findarticles.com. October 14, 1939. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  11. ^ a b "Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren" By Michael Gross p 92-93
  12. ^ Gross (2004), pp. 91–93
  13. ^ New York Observer: "Andrew Lauren, Son of Ralph, Worships Redford, Beatty, Welles" By Irina Aleksander April 30, 2008
  14. ^ Gross (2004), 186.
  15. ^ House & Garden, October, 1984
  16. ^ Domino magazine's "Editor's Pick — Babe Paley, featuring a photo of Paley at her Round Hill Villa in Jamaica online[dead link‍] Retrieved September 25, 2007
  17. ^ "''New York Times'' report on Ralph Lauren's brain tumor surgery". New York Times. April 16, 1987. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  18. ^ "1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Mille Miglia Spider". paulrussell.com. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  19. ^ "Speed, Style, and Beauty: Cars from the Ralph Lauren Collection". Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. March 6, 2005. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
  20. ^ "Forthcoming Events". lesartsdecoratifs.fr. Retrieved May 1, 2011.

References

  • Gross, Michael: Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren. Harper, New York 2003.
  • Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A.: Ralph Lauren: The Man behind the Mystique. Little, Brown and Company New York 1981.
  • McDowell, Colin: Ralph Lauren: The Man, The Vision, The Style. Rizzoli, New York 2002.


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