Area served Worldwide Founded 1967 | Industry Design | |
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Traded as NYSE: RLS&P 500 Component Key people Ralph Lauren, ChairmanStefan Larsson, CEO(outgoing) Stock price RL (NYSE) US$ 79.22 +1.01 (+1.29%)23 Mar, 4:02 PM GMT-4 - Disclaimer Profiles | ||
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is an American corporation. They are known for the clothing, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in four categories: apparel, home, accessories and fragrances. The Company's brand names, which include Polo Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Ralph Lauren Childrenswear, Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren, Chaps and Club Monaco, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands. Ralph Lauren Corporation is an American, publicly traded holding company headquartered in New York City. Ralph Lauren Corporation began with the 1967 founding of the Polo Ralph Lauren company by American designer Ralph Lauren.
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History
The Ralph Lauren Corporation started in 1967 with men’s ties. At 28 years-old, Lauren worked for the tie manufacturer, Beau Brummell. At that time, he persuaded the company's president to let him start his own line. Drawing on his interests in sports, Ralph Lauren names his first full line of menswear ‘Polo’ in 1968. He works out of a single "drawer" from a showroom in the Empire State Building and makes deliveries to stores himself.
By 1969, the Manhattan department store Bloomingdale’s sold Lauren’s men line exclusively. It was the first time that Bloomingdale’s had given a designer his own in-store shop. In 1971, Ralph Lauren Corporation launched a line of tailored shirts for women, which introduce the Polo player emblem to the world for the first time, appearing on the shirt’s cuff. The first full women’s collection was launched the following year.
1971 also marked the opening of Ralph Lauren’s store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. This is the first freestanding store for an American designer. 1977 Ralph Lauren Corporation introduces a signature cotton mesh Polo shirt in various colors. Featuring the polo player logo at the chest, the shirt becomes emblematic of the preppy look--one of Ralph Lauren's signature styles.
In 1974, Ralph Lauren outfitted the male cast of The Great Gatsby in costumes chosen from his Polo line a 1920s-style series of men's suits and sweaters, except for the pink suit which Lauren designed especially for Robert Redford’s Jay Gatsby. In 1977, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen wear Lauren’s clothes throughout their Oscar-winning film, Annie Hall.
The first Ralph Lauren fragrances, produced by Warner-Lauren, Ltd. are first launched at Bloomingdale's. Lauren, a fragrance for women, debuts on March 12, 1978, and Polo, the men's cologne, premieres on March 26, 1978. This is the first time that a designer has introduced two fragrances – one for men and one for women – simultaneously.
The company entered the European market, and went international, in 1981 with the opening of the first freestanding store for an American designer New Bond Street in the West End of London, England. Ralph Lauren opens his first flagship in the Rhinelander mansion, on Madison Avenue and 72nd Street in New York City in 1986. On June 12, 1997, the company becomes a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange.
The 98-seat restaurant, RL, opens in March 1999 in a newly-constructed building adjacent to the largest Ralph Lauren store at the corner of Chicago and Michigan Avenues. It was followed by the opening of two additional restaurants – Ralph’s at 173 Boulevard Saint Germain Paris flagship store in 2010 and The Polo Bar at Polo’s flagship in New York in 2015.
The company launched its official web site, and online shop in 2000 as polo.com by RL Media (a cooperation between Ralph Lauren and NBC). In 2007, Ralph Lauren Corporation acquired the NBC share of RL Media and the web site was relaunched as ralphlauren.com. On 29 September 2015, it was announced that Stefan Larsson would replace the company's founder, Ralph Lauren, as CEO in November. Lauren will stay on as executive chairman and chief creative officer.
In February 2017 it was announced that Larsson had agreed to leave his position as CEO effective May 1, 2017 due to differences with Lauren.
Brands
Stores
The Company ended Fiscal 2016 with 493 directly operated stores: 144 Ralph Lauren stores, 77 Club Monaco stores and 272 Polo factory stores. The Company also operated 583 concession shop locations worldwide at the end of the year.
In addition to Company-operated locations, international licensing partners operated 93 Ralph Lauren stores and 42 dedicated shops, as well as 133 Club Monaco stores and shops at the end of Fiscal 2016.
Ralph Lauren operates its representative flagship stores in New York City on Madison Avenue – for menswear in the former Rhinelander Mansion, and for womenswear and home in another structure, across the street, which opened in 2010. The company also manages flagships, for retailing Ralph Lauren collections, in Chicago, Manhasset, Greenwich (USA), London, Milan, Tokyo, Moscow, and Paris.
Sports sponsorships
In 2005, The United States Tennis Association selects Ralph Lauren Corporation as the official apparel sponsor for the U.S. Open. As part of the partnership, all on-court ball persons and officials will be dressed in specially-designed Ralph Lauren apparel. This is Polo's first tennis sponsorship.
In 2006, Ralph Lauren Corporation became the official outfitter of Wimbledon. Lauren is the first designer in the tennis tournament’s history to be chosen to create uniforms for all on-court officials.
In 2011, Ralph Lauren Corporation became the official apparel outfitter for the USGA and the U.S. Open Championships (U.S. Open (golf)) and serve as the championship's largest on-site apparel supplier. Additionally, the Company is an Official Patron of The Open Championship, outfitting all officials and staff members and serving as the championship's largest on-site apparel retailer.
On September 3, 2014, Ralph Lauren Corporation announces that it has been named an Official Partner and Outfitter of the PGA of America through 2020. The licensing agreement also designated that Ralph Lauren is the Official Partner and Official Outfitter of the PGA Championship; the Official Outfitter of Ryder Cup's conducted in the United States during that period; and the Official Outfitter of every U.S. Ryder Cup Team through 2020.
The corporation also sponsors US professional golfers Webb Simpson, Tom Watson, Jonathan Byrd, Davis Love III and Luke Donald; as well as LPGA golfer Morgan Pressel.
Ralph Lauren Corporation is the exclusive Official Parade Outfitter for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams, with the right to manufacture, distribute, advertise, promote, and sell products in the U.S. which replicate the Parade Outfits and associated leisure wear. The Company has established a partnership with athletes serving as brand ambassadors and as the faces of the advertising, marketing, and public relations campaigns.
Ralph Lauren Corporation partners with the United States Olympic Committee to become an Official Outfitter of the U.S. Olympic Team, for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, 2012 Summer Olympics in London, 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.
Ralph Lauren designs the official Opening Ceremony and Closing Ceremony parade outfits for the U.S. teams in addition to an assortment of village-wear apparel and accessories.