Ralph Lauren

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For the company, see Polo Ralph Lauren.

Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren in his office 1978 by Edgar de Evia
Born	October 14, 1939 (1939-10-14) (age 68) The Bronx, New York City, New York
Nationality	American
Education	Baruch College
Labels	Ralph Lauren Polo Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren (born Ralph Lifshitz on October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer and business executive. He is most notable for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.

Contents 1 Life 2 Other uses 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Life

Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Rueben Lifshitz in the south of New York City borough of The Bronx to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from Belarus^[1]: Fraydl (Kotlar) and Frank Lifshitz, a house painter.^{[citation needed]}

From a young age, he started working after school to earn money to buy suits. The four-year younger Calvin Klein, lived in the same Bronx neighborhood, but it is not known if they ever met while living there.

Lauren attended the Salanter Academy Jewish Day School followed by MTA (now known as the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy), before eventually graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1957.^{[citation needed]} In MTA Lauren was known by his classmates for selling ties to his fellow students. In his Clinton yearbook he stated under his picture that he wanted to be a millionaire.^{[citation needed]} Other notables who attended this school include Burt Lancaster, Robert Klein, and Stan Lee. At age 16, Ralph's brother Jerry changed their last name from Lifshitz to Lauren (his brother Lenny retained the name Lifshitz for many years).

He went to the Baruch College (of the City University of New York) where he studied business, although he dropped out after two years. From 1962 to 1964, he served in the United States Army. After his discharge, in 1968, he married Ricky Low-Beer. He did not attend fashion school, but worked for Brooks Brothers as a salesman. In 1967, with the financial backing of Norman Hilton, Lauren opened a necktie store where he also sold ties of his own design, under the label "Polo". He later purchased the name from Hilton. Lauren's fashion empire has since grown into a billion-dollar business.

In 1984 he transformed the Rhinelander Mansion, former home of the photographer Edgar de Evia and Robert Denning, into the flagship store for Polo Ralph Lauren. This same year de Evia photographed the cover feature story for House & Garden on the Lauren home Round Hill in Jamaica^[2], which had formerly been the home of Babe and Bill Paley.^[3]

In the middle of the 1990s, Polo Ralph Lauren became a public company, traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RL.

Ralph and his wife, Ricky, have two sons and a daughter: Andrew Lauren (b. 1969 in New York City, New York), David Lauren (b. 1971), and Dylan Lauren (b. May 1974 in New York City, New York. David is an executive at Polo Ralph Lauren and Dylan owns and operates an upscale candy store, Dylan's Candy Bar, at 59th Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan. Ricky appeared on the television show Martha on December 10th 2006 and stated that her son Andrew is in the "movie business".

In 2003, Lauren's nephew Greg Lauren announced his engagement to actress Elizabeth Berkley. Lauren designed and created outfits for the entire wedding party (including Berkley's wedding dress) to wear. Berkley wore a silk sheath dress with pearled spaghetti straps while Lauren wore a white tuxedo jacket and a black bow tie.^[4]

Lauren is the subject of several biographies (written by Jeffrey Trachtenberg, Michael Gross and Colin MacDowell).

Lauren is also well-known as a collector of classic automobiles. His cars have won best in show at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance multiple times. His collection was recently displayed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

By 2007 Ralph Lauren had over 35 boutiques in United States. There were 23 locations that carried Ralph Lauren Purple Label, including Atlanta, Beverly Hills, Boston, Charlotte, Chevy Chase, Chicago, Costa Mesa, Dallas Denver, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas, Manhasset, New York, Palm Beach, Palo Alto, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Short Hills, Troy, Orlando Florida and Washington DC.

[edit] Other uses

In the NBC television sitcom Friends, Rachel worked for Ralph Lauren's corporate office in the final two seasons, and the climax of the final episode involved Rachel deciding whether to take a job in Paris or stay at Ralph Lauren in New York. Ralph Lauren played himself twice during the show.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ralph Lauren Web Site
• Ralph Lauren Home
• Ralph Lauren - Biography
• Who's Who of Fashion Designer biography of Ralph Lauren
• Unauthorized Biography site
• Ralph Lauren at the Internet Movie Database
• Ralph Lauren collections at style.com
• Men's Vogue profile of Ralph Lauren

Persondata
NAME	Lauren, Ralph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Lifschitz, Ralph
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American fashion designer and business executive
DATE OF BIRTH	October 14, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH	The Bronx, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH