ralph lauren

The original name of the now notoriously famous haute-couture designer from the U.S.A. - Ralph Lauren was Ralph Lifschitz. He was born on Oct.,1939, in the NY City ( Bronx) into the family of a Jewish exiles Fraydl (Kotlar) and Frank Lifshitz. At the age of 16, Ralph's brother Jerry altered their surname from Lifshitz to Lauren (however, their brother Lenny kept the original surname for a long time). The Lauren brothers faced a great deal of disapproval from many Jews, who considered changing the name as the attempt to hide their Jewish origin. The brother found it inevitable in order to succeed.

Ralph?s life is in many ways connected with that of Robert Denning, an interior designer. Despite the fact that they both came from the background without any interest in fashion, they managed to succeed in the world of haute-couture. Simply, they succeeded in living their dreams.

After finishing the DeWitt Clinton High School (exclusively for boys) in the Bronx borough(1957), Ralph was trying hard to earn some money to afford expensive and luxurious apparels – his desire was driven by the search for the quality products. Ralph?s personal looks largely impressed his mates.

As far back as his time at this high school, he always longed to be a millionaire(it is written even under his ?graduating? photo in the school yearbook). His schoolmates – R.Klein, S.Lee, B.Lancaster- became famous, too.By the way, there are many biographies of Ralph Lauren – the most compelling are those by Colin macDowell, Michael Gross and Jeffrey Trachtenberg.

Having left the City College of NY (where he for 2 years studied business for 2 years),in 1962 he begun to serve in the U.S.Army, but was soon dismissed and in 1968 he married

a girl named Ricky Low-Beer. They have two sons and one daughter(Andrew, David – now the company?s executive; and Dylan – she runs the Dylan?s Candy Bar store in Manhattan).Then he was employed as a business agent in the company of Brooks Brothers. Around this time Ralph conceived the brand Polo, a necktie business.

Since then, Lauren's fashion empire had grown into billion-dollar business. But Polo was not the only brand conceived by Lauren – among the others are : gentlemen's collections of Purple Label, Black Label, RLX, RRL, Polo Jeans Co. and Rugby; the ladies?collections are those of Pink Pony, Black Label, Blue Label, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Jeans Co., Rugby and RLX.

The overwhelming majority of Polo RL's clothing collections are produced in the U.S.A., the rest are manufactured in Italy, France, England(certain shoe series), Panamaa the Black Label series), and exceptionally also in Sri Lanka (the PRL shirts).

The flagship firm for Ralph Lauren became – in 1984 - the Rhinelander Mansion, the former residence of Robert Denning and the photographer Edgar de Evia( the same year Evia photographed(for House and Garden) Ralph?s residence at Round Hill, Jamaica.

Around 1995, Polo Ralph Lauren was traded under the abbreviation “RL“ on the NY Stock Exchange and in such a way it was made a public firm.

One of Lauren?s passions is the one for classic automobiles – he collects them zealously. His hobby was awarded also by professionals – many times he won at the reputable show Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Nowadays, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts holds one of his automobile collections.

Polo Ralph Lauren is the owner of the hip boutique vender – Club Monaco – which is quite autonomous, but still in the constraints of the Ralph Lauren empire.

Ralph Lauren can boast with being the first Official Outfitter of Wimbledon. In this case, the corporation had to customize the logo of Wimbledon and create new dresses for ballboys, as well as for line and court judges.

RL trade name is subject to many forgeries; the most 'favourite' items to copy are the PRL products, which can be found primarily in Latin America and Asia (mainly in Jakarta and Bali). Presently, the company is taking the Ubud dealers to court, for they were selling faked RL items to the local tourists. The 'forgery tradition' is gradually ceasing to exist.