Ralph Lauren: The Creator of the American Preppy Look

The world of fashion was forever changed when Ralph Lauren’s collections first hit the runway. Since being written in the pages of every fashion magazine, Lauren is known to be the epitome of classic fashion designers and the creator of the iconic preppy look. Born Ralph Lifshitz in 1939, in the Bronx, he acquired a taste for expensive ensembles that he purchased at a young age with his own hard-earned cash. Although Lauren did not attend fashion design school, he worked in the fashion industry throughout his college years at City College in New York City before dropping out to start up his own design house. Lauren designed ties at A. Rivetz & Co, which helped generate his entrepreneurial endeavor. With the skills he gained designing ties, along with a $50,000 loan, he established Polo Fashions in 1967. Lauren chose the name 'Polo' for what it reminds him of: power, grace, style, and intrigue. 

For his entire career, Lauren has focused on building his multi-million dollar company, and quite successfully I may add. He founded the two keys of success in the industry that other designers with fabulous style lacked: presentation and packaging. Since its founding, 'Ralph Lauren Polo' has been worn by the East Coast elite who desire a sporty look, while still appealing to their upper-class side. The household name as it is known today had an interesting beginning. In the 1960s, Lauren pitched his line of wide ties to Bloomingdale’s who kindly rejected his product claiming that the “Polo” labels were too big. I would say that the Bloomingdale’s buyer made a huge mistake. However, even after rejection, Lauren did not give up; he went from department store to department store showing his ties and found them to be a booming success. After realizing what they missed out on, Bloomingdale’s came running back to Lauren begging to carry his product as he designed it. Funny how that works, right? 

Innovation has been the driving force behind this powerhouse of a design company over the decades. In the early 1980s, Polo was known to be the house of “the power suit” until Armani stepped in with more refined Italian suits. With the creativity that established the thriving company, Lauren instantly came out with a new line of men’s clothing made of fine fabrics for the working man. The idea was for men to look fashionable yet still powerful in the office environment. Lauren used this concept to compete with the Italian designer. Polo was known for their classic tailoring on the men’s tweed suits and continued that same design trait as they opened women's wear line in 1971. That same year, the home and furnishing collection were next to be released under the popular designer's name. Women’s clothing designs consisted of classically tailored suits with a feminine twist and everyday preppy clothing. What we now recognize as the most famous Polo product was released in 1972. His classic piece: the mesh sport shirt (in every color under the moon) with the polo player emblem on the left breast.


Nonetheless, over the years, Lauren has tried to break into many other categories of fashion and themes such as Southwestern looks, but he has always remained true to his ever-present classic American clothing designs. Today, he has expanded his designs to sporting attire including polo shirts for horseback riding and tennis outfits which happen to be his most widely purchased items.
As the controller of almost 90% of the company’s voting power today, Lauren still remains very involved in his empire. While Polo would rather license over manufacturing, it oversees both types of contracts worldwide. With about 275 retail and outlet stores in North America along with 100 others worldwide, the company still remains to grow and stay popular in today’s culture. Ralph Lauren became one of the first designers to sell a lifestyle of a sophisticated image, rather than just clothing and home furnishings. 

"I have always admired and respected Ralph Lauren. He is to me the ultimate American designer, as he made true American style, not just fashion, accessible to everyone in the world.” -Karl Lagerfeld (Vogue, June 2010)

Take a peek at Ralph Lauren's Fall 2012 Runway Show! 

Sources:

http://fashionscollective.com/FashionAndLuxury/06/ralph-lauren/

http://www.infomat.com/whoswho/ralphlauren.html

Blog written and edited by: Calee Dillon, Kara Goldstein, Ashley Anderson, and Ashley Turpin

“My attention was drawn by those women who don't look like everyone else”       Amen JP, Amen. 

There are three words that can make any fashionista’s heart beat just a little faster. Jean. Paul. Gautier. Yes, everyone, I met this mega famous haute couture fashion designer!!! Okay, not really……A girl can dream, right? I actually visited the designer’s exclusive exhibit, “From Sidewalk to the Catwalk”, at the Museum of Art here in the big D. That’s basically like meeting him, isn’t it? Not being a museum buff, I had my doubts, but let me tell you that I will never forget this, literally once in a lifetime, showcase of about 130 ensembles from Gautier’s couture collections. Outfits worn by MADONNA were within arms length, people. Cone bras?...um yes please! Okay, so what got my attention most, besides the amazingly eccentric designs, were the animated mannequins. Walking in, the mannequins have projected faces that move, talk, sing, and blink. It is super duper creeeepy, but very lifelike and actually kind of cool. Strolling through the exhibit I saw mermaid-inspired pieces, ensembles created from garbage bags and aluminum cans, inflatable fabrics, gowns that took over 120 hours to create, lots and lots of plaid, a borderline x-rated room filled with provocative dominatrix outfits, and even clothing that resembled the human anatomy. I would seriously love to go inside Gautier’s mind because I’m sure it would be one big ole’ party in there. Gautier, you are a genius. 

If you know me, you know I like LOVE to be comfortable. I am constantly moving throughout the day so 5-inch heels ain’t ever gonna make it in my lifestyle. And by the way, you will never EVER see me in heels. I am an athlete with feet already covered in blisters; I definitely don’t need any more! After a week full of practices and workouts, all I want to do is relax, so a majority of my outfits scream “chill”. This outfit I have on up above is my "go-to" for literally all occasions. From Church, to class, to a dinner out with the gals, this outfit is perfect! Every girl should have a cute long sweater in their closet. It can be thrown on top of any blouse or shirt just to add some more to the comfy-factor. In this case, I paired my button-down, cotton, grey, long sweater with my super basic, blended cotton and polyester, white tee. Now with my dark denim skinny jeans and black patent Tory Burch flats, my outfit is almost complete, almost. To add a punch of color, I threw on my J.Crew yellow and white polka-dot scarf (polka-dots are a big trend this season girls!). And there you have it, a cute and simple outfit that can go day to night and you won’t be begging to take it off!