“I don’t design clothes, I design dreams”; “my eyes are the mirror of my life. They are my personal camera. I transfer all the experience of my private life into my work because life is my library”; “I believe in living a life full of adventure and exploration. Do not limit yourself to a single path; take the road less traveled.” All those phrases have been spoken by Ralph Lauren (New York, 1939), the designer who has become synonymous with classic elegance, timeless style, and the American dream.
But the phrase that crowns the official website of his brand defines the vision that has led him to be one of the most influential couturiers of the last decade: “Style is very personal, it has nothing to do with fashion. Fashion passes quickly; style lasts forever.” Not surprisingly, after more than 50 years at the top of design, there are few people who do not know his name or the impressive empire he has built.
Ralph Lauren sells clothes, but also a very profitable image of himself. “The reason it works — and keeps working — is that I am who I am. I am the product. If you like my style, you like my clothes,” said on another occasion the wealthy and influential New York designer, who has never ceased to be relevant and has even become an icon of pop culture.
From the coat of Melania Trump at the first inauguration of her husband as President of the United States to the vintage suit that Penélope Cruz wore at the London premiere of The Black Ball, Ralph Lauren represents staying power against fleeting trends: he has managed to ensure that his identity goes beyond showing a logo.
Penélope Cruz wears a 2014 Ralph Lauren vintage suit to present The Black Ball at the London Film Festival.
Ralph Lauren and the American Dream
The young Ralph was born in 1939 as the youngest of four siblings in a family of Belarusian immigrant origin. This cinephile changed his real surname Lifshitz to Lauren because it sounded better, inspired by the actress Lauren Bacall. As a child he wore the clothes his older brothers no longer used, but he combined them in unusual ways. “I used to see him in the Bronx when I was a kid, and I thought: ‘Who is that person? Who dresses like that?'” one of his most famous colleagues in the profession, Calvin Klein, recalled.
“My parents wanted me to be a doctor, lawyer or something safe, like a teacher,” Ralph Lauren said on one occasion to CBS. “I was very lucky. I could have been a nightclub bouncer or anything else. I think about that constantly.” So the future designer studied a few business administration courses, left college, joined the army for two years and then landed his first jobs in the fashion industry.
Ralph Lauren with his wife, Ricky.
He began by designing ties, which were wider, more striking, and more expensive than all the others, and named his brand Polo, in reference to the equestrian sport. For him, polo represented an international and elegant lifestyle. But it was his 1989 knitted sweater, decorated with the United States flag, that propelled him to fame. It became a best-seller, and the American flag, in which his initials appeared instead of the stars, was used as the company’s logo for an entire range of products.
Today, the polo rider remains the distinctive symbol of Ralph Lauren and appears printed on apparel around the world as the synonym of the American Way of Life. Because the central theme of Ralph Lauren’s fashion has always been the same: the United States. Everything revolves around the colors of its flag: red, white, and blue, and around freedom, independence, and the pursuit of individual happiness. Lauren is the most American of all designers. And at 87, he remains the star of his own brand: in advertisements he often appears himself, alongside his wife Ricky, with whom he has been married for more than 50 years, and their three children.
An icon of pop culture
Even if you know nothing about the fashion world, it’s easy to recognize Ralph Lauren. Much of the credit goes to the character Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Aniston) in the series Friends, which made him an icon of pop culture in the 1990s and 2000s. The designer made a brief but memorable cameo in the show, where his sole and famous line of dialogue was a simple “Hello, Rachel”.
In 2019, to celebrate Friends’ 25th anniversary, Ralph Lauren partnered with Warner Bros. and Bloomingdale’s to launch a workwear collection directly inspired by Rachel Green’s wardrobe. The design of much of the male wardrobe in the film The Great Gatsby (1972) starring Robert Redford, or the clothing of successive American selections in the Olympics has helped cement this status.
