Ralph Lauren
“The Bronx-born designer who turned a line of wide ties (1967) into an $8-billion lifestyle empire, selling the American dream from the polo pony to the Madison Avenue mansion.”
Ralph Lauren is the American designer who turned a line of wide silk ties into one of the biggest fashion companies in the world by selling a picture of how to live: tweed jackets and polo shirts, Western denim, a country house with a library and a stable. He was born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx, New York, on 14 October 1939 and has led his business, first as chief executive and since 2015 as executive chairman and chief creative officer, for almost sixty years. In January 2025 he became the first fashion designer to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour in the United States.
He grew up in the Bronx, the son of a Jewish house painter, and changed his name from Lifshitz to Lauren as a teenager, together with a brother. After business classes at night, a spell in the Army Reserves and jobs in sales, including as a clerk at Brooks Brothers, he was selling ties for the Abe Rivetz company when, in 1967, he talked the head of another tie maker, Beau Brummell, into backing a division of his own. Jerry suggested the name Polo. The ties were wider than the narrow ones of the day and sold for $7.50 to $15, and he kept them in a drawer in Beau Brummell's office in the Empire State Building. In 1968 Polo Fashions was incorporated and Polo became a menswear company; in 1971 came a first line of womenswear and the polo-player emblem, and in 1972 the mesh polo shirt that became his best-known product.
Britannica sums up the look as English aristocratic dress as adapted by the sporty American East Coast elite. Two films carried it to a mass public: The Great Gatsby in 1974, for which he supplied the clothes of Robert Redford and the other male leads, and Annie Hall in 1977, where he is credited with part of the wardrobe. He then sold it as a whole world. There were fragrances in 1978 and a home collection in 1983, and in 1986 he opened a flagship in the Rhinelander mansion on Madison Avenue, a five-storey house of 1898 turned into a stage for the Polo life. Polo Sport followed in 1993, the Purple Label tailoring in 1995 and the Polo Bear in the early 1990s. On 12 June 1997 the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange: 29.5 million shares at $26, or $767 million, with the Lauren family keeping about 90 per cent of the votes.
Since then the company has used sport and heritage to stay in view. It became the outfitter of the US Open in 2005, of Wimbledon's on-court officials in 2006 and, from 2008, of the US Olympic team, a deal that brought a row in 2012 when the team's parade uniforms turned out to be made in China, and a promise to make the next ones in the United States. In 1998 Polo Ralph Lauren pledged $10 million, with $3 million more for publicity, to save the Star-Spangled Banner at the Smithsonian. In September 2015 Lauren handed the chief executive's job to Stefan Larsson, who left in 2017 and was followed by Patrice Louvet, while the founder kept control of design. For the year to March 2026 the company reported revenue of $8.1 billion, about seven times the $1.2 billion of fiscal 1997.
What Lauren is known for is the claim that style outlasts fashion. 'I'm interested in longevity, timelessness, style - not fashion,' he has said. The story is part of the product: a Bronx boy who dressed the American dream in the clothes of a class he did not come from, and who made the mansion, the ranch and the racing car part of the brand. He is also known for his collection of classic cars, shown at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 2005 and in Paris in 2011, and for work on cancer care. Several of his best-known moments are still argued over, from who deserves the credit for the Gatsby suits to what the founding date of the company is, and the notes below say where the sources disagree.
What happened
- 1939
Ralph Rueben Lifshitz is born in the Bronx, New York, to a Jewish family; his father is a house painter with artistic ambitions.
The Bronx, New York: born here on 14 October 1939 and brought up here, where he went to school and began work in sales- 1955
While still a teenager he and his brother change the family name from Lifshitz to Lauren. The year is a guess from the age of 16 given on Wikipedia; Britannica says only 'teenagers'.
- 1957
He finishes high school in the Bronx and takes business classes at night, at Baruch College according to CNN, while working in sales by day; he never finishes a degree.
- 1962
He serves in the US Army Reserves; the years 1962 to 1964 come from Wikipedia, because CNN and Britannica give no dates.
- 1964
He marries Ricky Ann Loew-Beer in New York; they will have three children, Andrew (born 1969), David (1971) and Dylan (1974).
- 1967
Selling ties for the Abe Rivetz company, after a time as a sales clerk at Brooks Brothers, Lauren wants to make ties wider than the narrow ones then in fashion. Rivetz will not back him, so Ned Brower, president of the tie maker Beau Brummell, agrees to a new division that Lauren will run. His brother Jerry suggests the name Polo. The ties sell at $7.50 to $15 and are hand-made in fine silks.
Beau Brummell gives him a small office in its headquarters in the Empire State Building. At first he keeps his ties in a drawer, then in a chest of drawers, and he is the whole company: salesman, packer and shipper.
Empire State Building, Midtown Manhattan: in 1967 Beau Brummell gave him a small office here, where he kept his first Polo ties in a drawer- 1968
After a slow start Bloomingdale's takes his ties, first at the Fresh Meadows store and then on Lexington Avenue, and runs a seven-column advertisement in The New York Times that gives the $15 price. The year is inferred from the order of events in the source.
Polo Fashions, Inc. is incorporated in New York, with backing from the suit maker Norman Hilton, and Beau Brummell lets the Polo name go. The 1997 prospectus calls this the year Polo became an independent menswear company, with a line of tweed suits.
He shows a one-button suit with wide lapels and pleated trousers at Robert L. Green's Creative Menswear Design Awards at the Plaza Hotel, which proves he is now a menswear designer and not only a tie maker.
- 1970
He wins his first Coty American Fashion Critics' Award, for menswear.
- 1971
Lauren launches his first line of womenswear, tailored shirts and classic tailoring with a feminine turn, and the polo player on a horse becomes the company's logo.
The first in-store shop devoted only to Polo Ralph Lauren opens in Bloomingdale's flagship in New York, according to the 1997 prospectus; Wikipedia dates a Polo shop-in-shop at Bloomingdale's to 1969.
The first Polo shop opens in Beverly Hills, on Rodeo Drive, run not by Lauren but by the retailer Berny Schwartz; the prospectus confirms that an independent party opened the first store in 1971.
- 1972
He introduces the mesh sport shirt in many colours with the polo player on the chest, the shirt that becomes his best-known product.
Lauren has bought out his partner Norman Hilton, but the company is late with deliveries and almost bankrupt. He puts in $100,000 of his own money and brings in Peter Strom, who joins by 1974 and helps run the business.
- 1974
The Great Gatsby, with Robert Redford, opens with the men dressed in clothes from Lauren's Polo line, including Redford's suits. The costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge wins the Oscar and the two argue for years over the credit.
- 1977
Annie Hall opens, and Lauren is credited with some of the clothes worn by Diane Keaton and Woody Allen; how much of the look was his and how much Keaton's own wardrobe is disputed.
- 1978
Polo (for men) and Lauren (for women) go on sale, the first fragrances of the brand and, it is said, the first time a designer launched a men's and a women's scent together.
- 1983
Ralph Lauren Home, a full collection of bedding, bath and tableware, goes on sale; the company also has a Polo store on New Bond Street in London from this year according to the prospectus (CNN and Wikipedia say the first London store opened in 1981).
- 1986
After about two years of restoration, the Polo Ralph Lauren store opens in the Rhinelander Mansion on Madison Avenue: five storeys and over 20,000 square feet of mahogany woodwork and marble staircases in the house built in 1895-98. The CFDA names Polo its Retailer of the Year for the opening.
Rhinelander Mansion (Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo House), 867 Madison Avenue at 72nd Street: his flagship store since 21 April 1986- 1987
Lauren has surgery to remove a benign brain tumour and recovers fully.
- 1989
With others he founds the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown University, in memory of the Washington Post fashion editor, the start of his work on cancer care.
- 1991
The Council of Fashion Designers of America gives him its Lifetime Achievement Award (Wikipedia says 1992).
The Polo Bear appears, first as a limited Steiff teddy sold at the Madison Avenue flagship and in prints, then, the brand says, on a knitted flag sweater in 1992; the bear becomes one of the company's best-known marks.
- 1993
Polo opens its 10,000-square-foot Polo Sport flagship on Madison Avenue to go with the new Polo Sport line of fitness and outdoor clothes.
- 1994
Goldman Sachs buys about 28 per cent of Polo Ralph Lauren for $135 million (CNN gives 1994). From October 1994 the business is run through two operating partnerships, the structure described in the 1997 prospectus, in which the Goldman Sachs group is one of the sellers.
- 1995
In the autumn Polo introduces Ralph Lauren Purple Label, a line of tailored men's clothing in luxurious fabrics, sold in a limited number of shops, with suits at $1,600 to $3,000 in 1997 (Wikipedia says 1994).
Polo buys the assets of its womenswear licensee, Ralph Lauren Womenswear Inc., a subsidiary of Bidermann Industries, which had made and sold the women's line since 1973, and takes the line in-house.
- 1996
In Washington Princess Diana presents Lauren with the first Humanitarian Award of the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research.
- 1997
Polo Ralph Lauren goes public on the New York Stock Exchange as RL. The 29.5 million Class A shares, 9.4 million from the company and 20.1 million from Lauren, a family trust and Goldman Sachs, are priced at $26 on 11 June and raise $767 million. The Lauren family keeps about 90 per cent of the votes through its Class B shares.
New York Stock Exchange Building, Broad Street and Wall Street: the company's shares began trading here on 12 June 1997- 1998
At the National Museum of American History President and Mrs Clinton announce that Polo Ralph Lauren will give $10 million to save the Star-Spangled Banner, with $3 million more for a public campaign, the largest corporate gift the Smithsonian has ever had.
- 1999
The company pays $80 million for Club Monaco, a Toronto chain of 69 stores, to reach younger buyers.
- 2005
'Speed, Style, and Beauty: Cars from the Ralph Lauren Collection' opens at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with sixteen cars from his collection; it runs to 3 July.
The US Tennis Association names Polo Ralph Lauren official apparel sponsor of the US Open through 2008; every on-court official, including ball persons and line judges, will wear a shirt he designs.
- 2006
Polo Ralph Lauren becomes Wimbledon's first official outfitter for five years and designs the clothes of all on-court officials, in navy blue and cream, the first designer to do so in the tournament's 129 years.
- 2007
The CFDA gives him the first American Fashion Legend Award.
Lauren marks the company's 40th anniversary with a show and black-tie dinner for more than 400 guests in a white tent at the Conservatory Garden in Central Park.
- 2008
Polo Ralph Lauren becomes the official outfitter of the US Olympic team, with the parade uniforms for the Beijing Games.
- 2010
President Nicolas Sarkozy gives him the Légion d'honneur, as chevalier, in France.
On his 71st birthday Lauren opens a second flagship at 888 Madison Avenue, across from the mansion, for women's wear and home; Mayor Michael Bloomberg gives him the key to the city.
Rhinelander Mansion (Gertrude Rhinelander Waldo House), 867 Madison Avenue at 72nd Street: his flagship store since 21 April 1986- 2012
A row about the US team's parade uniforms for London 2012, made in China, leads Senator Harry Reid to say they should be burned; Ralph Lauren says the clothes for the next Games will be made in the United States.
- 2014
Ralph Lauren unveils Team USA's Sochi opening-ceremony uniform, a knit cardigan with stars, a flag and the Olympic rings, with a 'Made in America' label.
Team USA parades into Fisht Stadium at the Sochi Opening Ceremony in the cardigans.
The Smithsonian gives him the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal at the National Museum of American History, with Hillary Clinton present, for his part in saving the Star-Spangled Banner and for his work as a designer.
- 2015
Ralph Lauren Corporation announces that Stefan Larsson, head of Old Navy, will become chief executive in November; Lauren stays as executive chairman and chief creative officer and Larsson will report to him.
- 2016
Team USA marches into the Maracana Stadium at the Rio Opening Ceremony behind Michael Phelps, who was chosen flag bearer by his teammates. It is Ralph Lauren's fifth Olympics: navy blazers with gold buttons, repp-stripe trim and the embroidered Polo Pony over white denim, and for the flag bearer a jacket whose electroluminescent panels light up the team symbol on the back.
- 2017
At the inauguration of President Trump the new First Lady, Melania Trump, wears a sky-blue cashmere Ralph Lauren dress and cropped jacket with matching gloves, a look compared at once with Jacqueline Kennedy's pale suits.
At the same ceremony Hillary Clinton, whom Lauren dressed through the 2016 campaign, comes in an off-white Ralph Lauren pantsuit that echoes the white suit she wore to accept the Democratic nomination in July 2016.
The company says Larsson will leave on 1 May 2017.
Patrice Louvet, from Procter & Gamble, is named chief executive; his employment starts in July (the filing says 10 July, Wikipedia 17 July).
- 2018
Lauren marks 50 years of the brand with a runway show, with more than a hundred models, and a black-tie dinner at Bethesda Terrace in Central Park, for guests including Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton and Steven Spielberg. The date is Friday 7 September (AP); Wikipedia says 8 September.
Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, Central Park: the backdrop of the 50th-anniversary show and dinner on 7 September 2018He throws the ceremonial first pitch before the Red Sox-Yankees game at Yankee Stadium.
- 2019
Prince Charles gives him the honorary title of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, at Buckingham Palace, the first American designer so honoured; CNN gives 19 June and Wikipedia 20 June.
HBO releases the documentary 'Very Ralph' about his life.
- 2020
He gives $10 million to coronavirus relief efforts.
- 2024
The US team sails down the Seine at the Paris Opening Ceremony in Ralph Lauren's ninth Olympic uniform, unveiled on 18 June: a single-breasted wool blazer with red and white tipping, a striped oxford shirt, tapered jeans and suede buck shoes, all made in the United States.
- 2025
At the White House President Biden presents Lauren with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the first time a fashion designer has received it, for his work as designer, entrepreneur and philanthropist.
- 2026
The company files its annual report: revenue of $8.11 billion for the year to 28 March 2026, up from $7.08 billion the year before; Lauren remains executive chairman and chief creative officer.
