Rapid Bio

Ralph Lauren, born Ralph Lifshitz on October 14, 1939, in the Bronx, New York, was the third of four siblings in a Jewish immigrant family. His parents, Frieda (Cutler) and Frank Lifshitz, came from Poland (now Belarus) searching for a better life. Growing up in a modest neighborhood, Ralph developed big dreams early on. At 16, he changed his last name to Lauren to avoid schoolyard teasing, and even then, he showed an eye for style, selling handmade neckties to classmates.

After high school, he briefly attended Baruch College before leaving to join the U.S. Army. By 1964, he was working at Brooks Brothers, where he began to understand classic American fashion. In 1967, with a $50,000 loan, he launched his first necktie line under the "Polo" label, a name inspired by his love for sports.

By the 1970s, Lauren expanded into women’s fashion and introduced the Polo shirt with its now-iconic logo, a staple of American style. His designs for The Great Gatsby and Annie Hall cemented his influence in fashion and culture. In 1984, he opened his first flagship store in the transformed Rhinelander Mansion in New York, bringing his vision of American luxury to life. The brand went public in 1997, solidifying his empire.

Beyond fashion, Lauren established the American Heroes Fund after 9/11 and the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care in 2003. His contributions earned him accolades, including France’s Legion of Honor in 2010. Today, Ralph Lauren’s legacy endures as a visionary who redefined American style and lifestyle.

Ralph’s 5 lessons

1. It’s not about a breakthrough, it’s about a point of view

For Ralph Lauren, success was never about a single, defining moment. His journey wasn’t a series of explosive breakthroughs but a steady, almost instinctual progression toward his own vision. Growing up in the Bronx, Ralph wasn’t focused on fame or wealth; those were distant ideas. Instead, he was driven by his own way of seeing the world—a perspective shaped by a childhood spent playing sports and imagining himself as one of the heroes he admired in films and books. When he created his first line of wide ties, it wasn’t based on market trends or a business plan. It was simply something he believed in, reflecting his own sense of style and his very singular point of view. “The clothes that I design and the lifestyle that I portray have always been about what I am.”

2. Surround your world with heroes

Ralph’s world was filled with heroes. Growing up, he admired figures like Cary Grant, who carried an elegance and strength that transcended the screen. These heroes weren’t just celebrities to Ralph; they were ideals, embodiments of grace, strength, and integrity. These figures represented enduring qualities, setting a standard he aspired to, shaping his values and the work he created. “I was influenced by the good guy. The man on the white horse. My life and my career is a combination of heroes,” he once shared. Ralph’s heroes became a foundation of values he carried with him, reminders of the world he wanted to build for himself.

3. Design the clothes you want to wear

Ralph never saw himself as a designer, nor did he aspire to be one. His interests lay in creating a life—a world he could inhabit, a life he could live fully. From the beginning, his choices were guided by his own sense of style rather than trends. “There are people who make products and just sell them to others. And there are people who make products, but they live what they do; their products are about who they are.” To Ralph, clothing was not about fleeting fashion but about identity. When he began designing women’s clothes, he created pieces he imagined his girlfriend wearing. His products were expressions of his aspirations, blending his reality with the dreams that guided him forward. Ralph Lauren’s products were part of Ralph’s personality; he designed what he was—or what he aspired to be. He understood that clothing could be a powerful form of storytelling, allowing people to step into the person they strive to become and inspiring others to do the same.

4. Embrace unobsolescence

Ralph valued longevity and cherished things that didn’t feel disposable. Lauren was drawn to the idea of permanence, admiring the concept of “unobsolescence”—the idea that certain things do not age, or even that sometimes value lies in aging, which he said “was so European.” His iconic Polo shirt is a perfect example of this philosophy. For Ralph, timelessness wasn’t just a design principle but a way of life. As he grew older, he reflected on how we view ourselves from the outside, often feeling we’re never quite “grown-ups.” This perspective allowed him to stay connected to a sense of youthfulness and timelessness that felt as enduring as his designs: “I love things that are not frivolous. I love things that go on. I love the timelessness of an attitude, of a jacket. A tweed jacket has represented the same thing to people over my lifetime: easiness, elegance.”

5. Take the time to care

On the same day Ralph made the cover of Time magazine, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. For Ralph, it was a moment of profound vulnerability that left him feeling humbled and deeply aware of life’s preciousness, “not as much for myself but for the look in the eyes of my wife and children after I told them.” Right after his post-surgery recovery, Ralph met Nina Hyde, a journalist who was fighting breast cancer, and this encounter struck something deep within him—a shared recognition of life’s unpredictability and preciousness. He wasn’t a philanthropist by profession, but his encounter with Nina moved him to action. Ralph didn’t just lend support; he dedicated himself to the cause, raising awareness and funds for cancer research in a deeply personal way. This wasn’t about public recognition or goodwill; it was about a need to help. Ralph’s experience taught him that true success isn’t measured by awards but by the lives we touch.

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