Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren Corporation designs, markets, and distributes lifestyle products in North America, Europe, Asia, and internationally. The company offers apparel, including a range of men's, women's, and children's clothing; footwear and accessories, which comprise casual shoes, dress shoes, boots, sneakers, sandals, eyewear, watches, fashion and fine jewelry, scarves, hats, gloves, and umbrellas, as well as leather goods, such as handbags, luggage, small leather goods, and belts; home products consisting of bed and bath lines, furniture, fabric and wallcoverings, lighting, tabletop, kitchen linens, floor coverings, and giftware; and fragrances. It sells apparel and accessories under the Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Golf Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Golf, RLX Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, and Chaps brands; women's fragrances under the Ralph Lauren Collection, Woman by Ralph Lauren, Romance Collection, and Ralph Collection brand names; and men's fragrances under the Polo Blue, Ralph's Club, Safari, Purple Label, Polo Red, Polo Green, Polo Black, Polo Sport, and Big Pony Men's brand names. The company's restaurant collection includes The Polo Bar in New York City; RL Restaurant in Chicago; Ralph's in Paris; The Bar at Ralph Lauren located in Milan; and Ralph's Coffee concept. It sells its products to department stores, specialty stores, and golf and pro shops, as well as directly to consumers through its retail stores, concession-based shop-within-shops, and its digital commerce sites. The company directly operates 504 retail stores and 684 concession-based shop-within-shops; and operates 175 Ralph Lauren stores, 329 factory stores, and 148 stores and shops through licensing partners. Ralph Lauren Corporation was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Ralph Lauren was one of several design leaders raised in the Jewish community in the Bronx, along with Calvin Klein and Robert Denning.Lauren started The Ralph Lauren Corporation in 1967 with men's ties. At 28 years-old, Lauren worked for the tie manufacturer Beau Brummell. He persuaded the company's president to let him start his own line. Drawing on his interests in sports, Lauren named his first full line of menswear "Polo" in 1968. He worked out of a single "drawer" from a showroom in the Empire State Building and made deliveries to stores himself.By 1969, the Manhattan department store Bloomingdale's sold Lauren's men line exclusively. It was the first time that Bloomingdale's had given a designer his own in-store shop. In 1971, Ralph Lauren Corporation launched a line of tailored shirts for women, introducing the Polo player emblem on the shirt cuff. The first full women's collection was launched the following year.1972 marked the opening of Ralph Lauren's store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California, his first freestanding store. In 1972, Lauren released a short-sleeve cotton shirt in 24 colors. This design, emblazoned with the company's famed logo—that of a polo player, became the brand's signature look. In 1977 Ralph Lauren Corporation introduced a signature cotton mesh polo shirt in various colours, featuring the polo player logo on the chest.

In 1974, Ralph Lauren outfitted the male cast of The Great Gatsby in costumes chosen from his Polo line - a 1920s-style series of men's suits and sweaters, except for the pink suit which Lauren designed especially for Robert Redford’s Jay Gatsby. In 1977, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen wore Lauren's clothes in the Oscar-winning film, Annie Hall.In 1978, the first Ralph Lauren fragrances, produced by Warner-Lauren, Ltd were launched at Bloomingdale's. Lauren for women, and Polo the men's cologne. This was the first time that a designer introduced two fragrances – one for men and one for women – simultaneously.The company entered the European market and went international in 1981 with the opening of the first freestanding store in New Bond Street in the West End of London, England. Lauren opened his first flagship in the Rhinelander mansion on Madison Avenue and 72nd Street in New York City in 1986. On June 12, 1997, the company becomes a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.The 98-seat restaurant, RL, opened in March 1999 in Chicago adjacent to its largest and world flagship Ralph Lauren store at the corner of Chicago and Michigan Avenues on the Magnificent Mile. It was followed by the opening of two additional restaurants – Ralph's at 173 Boulevard Saint Germain Paris store in 2010 and The Polo Bar at Polo's store in New York in 2015.The company launched its website and online shop in 2000 as polo.com by RL Media . In 2007, Ralph Lauren Corporation acquired the NBC share of RL Media and the website was relaunched as ralphlauren.com. In September 2015, it was announced that Stefan Larsson would replace the company's founder, Ralph Lauren, as CEO in November. Lauren stayed on as executive chairman and chief creative officer.In February 2017, it was announced that Larsson had agreed to leave his position as CEO effective May 1, 2017 due to differences with Lauren. On May 17, 2017, Ralph Lauren named Patrice Louvet President and Chief Executive Officer. Louvet most recently served as Group President, Global Beauty at Procter & Gamble . He took over on July 17, 2017.In October 2020, Ralph Lauren Corporation announced that it would transition its Chaps brand to a fully licensed business model to focus on its core brands, reduce its direct exposure to the North American department store channel, and setting up the Chaps brand to be nurtured with an experienced partner. Also in October, Ralph Lauren Corporation has appointed former Obama administration consultant Valerie Jarrett to the board of directors.In May 2021, Ralph Lauren Corporation announced it would sell its Club Monaco brand to private equity firm Regent LP.

Ralph Lauren, whose name is synonymous with American lifestyle, timeless design and impeccable quality, is a cultural icon who has built the Ralph Lauren Corporation into one of the most successful companies in the world. As the first designer to produce a complete lifestyle vision, Mr. Lauren created a global brand exemplified by style, sophistication and the utmost attention to detail. Today, the Company is a leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in four categories: apparel, home, accessories and fragrances.

Ralph Lauren s original vision of a life in style while always forging ahead to create a Company for the 21st century.

Ralph Lauren has been recognized for its commitment to innovation and excellent product quality. The company has been awarded several Top 100 Global Innovators Awards, and it has been named as one of the World's Most Innovative Companies by Forbes. Additionally, Ralph Lauren was awarded the 2018 Good Award from Fortune Magazine for its commitment to social enterprise.