Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren (born October 14, 1939, New York, New York, U.S.) is an American fashion designer who, by developing his brand around the image of an elite American lifestyle, built one of the world’s most successful fashion empires. Beginning with a line of men’s ties sold under the Polo name in 1967, he expanded his business into a global lifestyle brand whose products include apparel, home furnishings, accessories, and fragrances and whose offerings included cafes and other dining establishments.

Early life

Lauren was born Ralph Rueben Lifshitz to eastern European immigrants. His father, Frank Lifshitz, was a house painter and an actor in Yiddish theater, and his mother, Frieda, was a homemaker. Ralph Lifshitz was the youngest of four, with an elder sister, Thelma, and two elder brothers, Lenny and Jerry. The family lived in the Bronx, in New York City, where Ralph Lifshitz grew up attending synagogue and playing sports. As a teenager his sartorial taste grew, and he worked part-time at a department store, earning money to buy clothes. About this time his brother Jerry, tired of having fellow members of the Air Force Reserve teasing him for his last name, suggested a change. The three Lifshitz brothers consequently settled on Lauren.

Early career and personal life

After graduating from high school in 1957, Ralph Lauren took business classes at the City College of New York for two years and later served in the U.S. Army between 1962 and 1964. At the end of 1964 Lauren married Ricky Ann Loew-Beer, whom he had met at an eye doctor’s office, and the couple had two sons, Andrew Lauren (born 1969) and David Lauren (1971), and a daughter, Dylan Lauren (1974). Meanwhile, in the late 1960s Ralph Lauren was working for a tie company and was inspired to design neckwear. At the time skinny ties were in fashion, but Lauren wanted the wide ties he saw in old Hollywood movies. In 1967 the Beau Brummel tie manufacturer agreed to produce his designs, and he began marketing his unique line of ties under the name Polo. His first year in business was a success, with $500,000 in sales (close to $5 million in 2026) of neckwear. The next year Lauren launched a full menswear collection.

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Fashion empire

From the inception of his brand, Lauren’s creations have been characterized by a moneyed style that evokes the look of English aristocracy as adapted by the sporty American East Coast elite. His early menswear line featured classic tweed suits. Women’s shirts in 1971 continued his explorations of classic tailoring and good taste, but with a feminine twist, and he produced a full womenswear collection in 1972. That same year Lauren also debuted what would become his signature piece: the mesh sport shirt, available in a variety of colors and featuring his trademark emblem of the most aristocratic of athletes, the polo player.

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The Ralph Lauren style became a nationwide phenomenon after he dressed the male actors in the 1974 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby in clothing from his line. The film’s evocation of the lost, elegant era of F. Scott Fitzgerald provided a perfect vehicle for Lauren’s classic, sometimes nostalgic vision. The designer received further attention when he created some of the clothing worn by Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in Annie Hall (1977). Lauren once said of his style, “I’m interested in longevity, timelessness, style—not fashion.” His work throughout the following decades reflected this motto, as his exploration of new ideas—including Southwestern themes and safari looks—was always grounded in his central focus on classic American clothing.

Lauren’s vision appealed to a wide spectrum of people, and his label quickly turned into an empire. Seeing how his clothing was associated with an aspirational lifestyle, starting in 1983 he expanded his business to include home accessories that would eventually include pillows, throws, bed and bath products, furniture, and household paint. Over the years Lauren also diversified the appeal of his label by creating lines of clothing and accessories targeted at a wide range of price points and demographics, including the Ralph Lauren Collection and the Purple Label, which represent the company’s luxury fashion offerings for women and men, respectively; Lauren, which offers a collection at a more affordable price; RLX, which focuses on performance and activewear; and Polo Ralph Lauren Children, which extends the brand’s style to children’s clothing. By the 1990s the presence of both his shops and his brand name had become global.

The brand toward the 21st century

In 1997 Lauren took his company public while retaining most of the voting power. Two years later the company ventured into hospitality with the first RL restaurant opening next to the Ralph Lauren Chicago store on Michigan Avenue. Subsequent dining establishments opened in Paris (2010), New York City (2015), and elsewhere. In the early decades of the 21st century, the brand took on the role of sports outfitter. In 2005 it clothed on-court officials and ball crew members at the U.S. Open, and it expanded its tennis presence in 2006 by becoming the official outfitter for Wimbledon. In 2008 Lauren entered the Olympic arena as the U.S. team’s official outfitter, designing opening and closing ceremony looks and other apparel for U.S. Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

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In 2015 Lauren announced that he was stepping down as CEO of the Ralph Lauren Corporation, though he remained involved as executive chair and chief creative officer. During the 2020s the brand attracted renewed attention as social media helped popularize “old money” and heritage-inspired styles. The company leaned into the appeal of its vintage clothing, buying back its past products, authenticating the pieces, and reselling them, often at higher prices than on resale sites. The interest in the brand extended beyond clothing to interiors and holiday decorating, including the so-called “Ralph Lauren Christmas” aesthetic, which emphasized cozy and nostalgic styling.

Awards and philanthropy

Among Lauren’s many honors were the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) awards for Lifetime Achievement (1991), Womenswear Designer of the Year (1995), and Menswear Designer of the Year (1996, 2007), as well as its Fashion Legend Award (2007). He was awarded the Legion of Honour by the government of France in 2010 and the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal by the Smithsonian Institution in 2014. Lauren also received the title of honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2019, becoming the first American fashion designer to be so honored. In 2025 he became the first fashion designer to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which was presented to him by U.S. Pres. Joe Biden.

Lauren’s philanthropy has been defined by a sustained commitment to cancer care, prevention, and research, alongside broader efforts in cultural preservation and community support. In 1989 he cofounded the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, D.C., in honor of his late friend and The Washington Post’s fashion editor. He launched the Pink Pony collection in 2000, which benefits an international network of cancer charities, and opened the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care in Harlem in 2003, the Ralph Lauren Centre for Breast Cancer Research in London in 2016, and a cancer prevention center at the University of Southern California Norris in 2023.