Personal life
Ralph Lauren (born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx, New York City, in 1939) is an American fashion designer. Parents Frank and Fraydl reared Lauren. Ralph was one of four children born to immigrants from Eastern Europe. When Lauren was a youngster, he had to share a room with his two brothers, but the experience left him with a positive outlook on life.
Ralph had a distinctive sense of style when he was an adolescent. He was enamoured with the combination of old-fashioned elegance and preppy flair. Fred Astaire and Cary Grant’s unique styles served as a source of inspiration for him. When Lauren realized he needed a job to help support his passion for fashion, he turned to part-time employment.
Ralph attended Baruch College in Manhattan for two years after high school before quitting out since he realized the business was not his passion.
When Lauren was recruited into the military in 1962, his life changed dramatically. Prior to commencing his career in the fashion sector, he served two years in the United States Army. Three children were born to Ralph and Ricky Anne Loew-Beer after Ralph returned from the military in 1964. This year marks their 56th wedding anniversary.
Business
For Lauren, having a dream has always been an essential part of life. When Lauren said that he was often asked about the inspiration for his designs, he meant it as a compliment. “People wonder how a Jewish boy from the Bronx can wear preppy clothing,” he said at one point. Is there a connection between this and one’s social or economic standing? “It is all about dreams,” he says. Lauren has shown time and time again that you do not have to come from a wealthy family to accomplish your goals in business.
As a young designer, Ralph Lauren’s ambition was to design garments that he himself would love to wear. He began designing his own garments because he was dissatisfied with the current state of men’s fashion. In New York, at the age of 24, he began working as a sales representative for Brooks Brothers.
Men’s ties designed by Ralph Lauren were the first product of the Ralph Lauren Corporation, which was founded in 1967. According to him, the popularity of the connections might be attributed to the fact that they were “broad and unconventional.” Ralph hawked his ties at New York City’s Empire State Building, where he also sold them from a draw.
Ralph’s enthusiasm for fashion developed as his business prospered, and he eventually started his own clothing line. Polo was a brand that sold clothing and a way of life that he built. “The clothing that I design and everything I’ve done is about life and how people live and how they want to live and how they think they’ll live,” Lauren said while describing the Ralph Lauren brand. My job is to accomplish that.
His designs were defined as “tweedy English-American appearance with a French cut” by Lauren in regard to Polo clothes. It was a prosperous decade for Ralph Lauren, as he launched a women’s line and perfected the cotton polo shirt that would become his trademark.
Aside from the Polo line, Ralph Lauren today offers items in four main categories: clothes, home; accessories; and perfumes, all of which are made by Ralph Lauren.
The Great Gatsby and Annie Hall are two of the many films in which Lauren has created the costumes (1974).
With a fortune in excess of $6 billion, Ralph Lauren is one of the most successful fashion designers in the world. Lauren evolved from a Bronx youngster to a worldwide superstar via hard work, persistence, and the pursuit of his dreams.
Charity Work
Ralph Lauren has made a name for himself as a philanthropist during the course of his career. Diagnosed with a brain tumour in the 1980s, Lauren underwent surgery. Before any harm could be done to his body, he was fortunate to have the tumour surgically removed and make a complete recovery.
His personal experience with a brain tumour may have led him to concentrate much of his charitable efforts on cancer research and treatment. Founded the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown University in 1989, Lauren has subsequently worked with several cancer research organizations, including the Pink Pony Campaign, the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention in Harlem, and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
The epithet “philanthropist” does not sit well with Lauren since his charitable activity is “more coming from the heart,” he says.
