LAUREN, RALPH 1939-

FASHION DESIGNER

Designing the American Look

As the winner of more Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards than any other designer (three for men's clothes, three for women's), Ralph Lauren is considered by fashion observers to be the quintessential American designer of the 1970s. Lauren's designs were clean lined, adaptable, imaginative, and, at the same time, classic and contemporary. Lauren first gained attention in the late 1960s with his Polo menswear collections. In 1972 he introduced his first Ralph Lauren collection for women. "I stand for a look that is American," he explained in a 1978 interview. "It's an attitude, a sense of freedom. I believe in clothes that last, that are not dated in a season. They should look better the year after they're bought."

Life

Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx, New York, on 14 October 1939, the youngest of four children. He and his siblings legally changed their name to Lauren in the mid 1950s. As a youth Lauren was interested in sports, movies, and the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald. He first became interested in clothes when he was in the seventh grade. "My friends were the hoods wearing motorcycle jackets, but I was wearing tweed Bermudas and button down shirts." While in high school, Lauren worked part-time as a stock boy at Alexander's Department Store. He spent most of his fifty-dollar-a-week salary on clothes and would save for weeks to buy a Brooks Brothers suit.

Ties

After graduating from high school Lauren stayed on at Alexander's and took evening classes at the City College of New York. Feeling restless and bored, Lauren knew he wanted to break into the fashion world and so applied to menswear manufacturers, including Brooks Brothers. They all turned him down. "I had no portfolio and no sketches. All I had was taste." He was eventually hired by Beau Brummel Ties in 1967. Lauren's ties were made of unusual fabrics and were two inches wider than the standard three-inch width of most ties. Soon Lauren's ties were Brummel's best sellers, and he left to start his own tie company, which he named Polo, for the word's connotations of class and elegance.

Expanding to Women's Wear

Lauren's larger ties needed larger shirt collars. His larger collars led him to design suit jackets with wider lapels, all of which he designed under the Polo label in 1970. His new men's look won him his first Coty award. The next season Lauren introduced a line of women's clothes that borrowed heavily from his menswear look. The line included shirts, sweaters, skirts, blazers, slacks, suits, and coats that were fashionable while being comfortable. "I didn't think it was necessary for a woman to dress like a vamp …to look attractive. Being comfortable is more important than being slinky."

Selling New Classics

Throughout the 1970s Lauren's women's collections were dominated by conservatively cut, well-tailored interchangeable separates. His 1975 line won him another Coty, and in 1977 Diane Keaton popularized Lauren's style in the movie Annie Hall In 1978 Lauren introduced a western theme into his clothes. Petticoat skirts, big silver-buckled belts, and cowboy boots and hats became an instant sensation. Lauren explained that the rugged cowboy look appealed to men and women because of the confidence and independence the cowboy represents. "It's part of American culture. It's one thing France can't claim as theirs. It's ours." In May 1979 Lauren entered the Fashion Hall of Fame for his role in developing a purely American look and in establishing New York City as a rival fashion capital to Paris.