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The story
Founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967.1
Lauren started The Ralph Lauren Corporation in 1967 with men's neckties. At 28 years old, he worked for the tie manufacturer Beau Brummell. Lauren 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.
The 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 based on polo player Bennie Gutierrez, became the brand's signature look. In 1977 Ralph Lauren Corporation introduced a signature cotton mesh polo shirt in various colors, 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 went international in 1981 with the opening of a 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 became 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 Avenue 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 owned Club Monaco from 1999 to 2021.
The company launched its website and online shop in 2000 as polo.com by RL Media (a cooperation between Ralph Lauren and NBC). 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 was group president, Global Beauty at Procter & Gamble (P&G). He took over on July 17, 2017.
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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 after first purchasing it in 1999, to private equity firm Regent LP.
In December 2023, Ralph Lauren announced a partnership with Haworth Lifestyle Design to expand its Home brand starting April 2024. Haworth Lifestyle Design will also launch standalone Ralph Lauren Home stores.
In December 2023, Ralph Lauren launched an artist in residence program for artisans to work with their design teams in a creative partnership. The first artist collaboration is with the indigenous artist Naomi Glasses, a Navajo 7th-generation weaver.
In 2025, Ralph Lauren Corporation marked the 25th anniversary of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange by hosting an Investor Day event, which included presentations from corporate leadership and product showcases for attendees.
In December 2025, the "Ralph Lauren Christmas" aesthetic trend started by social media users led to a boost in sales as holiday pop-ups by the brand in Seoul, Tokyo, Los Angeles and London generated about $6 million in brand value.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ralph Lauren Corporation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8