The Father Of Fashion

With A Determination To Stay True To His Own Vision, Ralph Lauren’s Journey Has Led Him From Selling Ties To Heading Up One Of The Most Recognizable Brands In The World

- Jake Taylor

Few men have ever had more influence on fashion than Ralph Lauren. While the world has seen many designers rise and fall according to market whims, the classic vision of Lauren has stood the test of time. He longed to create a look that captured something of the American Dream, and along the way his stylistic philosophy was embraced by the global marketplace.

His name and signature Polo line make up one of the most recognizable brands in the world, taking its rightful place alongside Apple, CocaCola, Amazon, et al. With an estimated net worth of more than US$7 billion, according to Forbes, Ralph Lauren is the third-richest designer in the world, whose fortune is exceeded only by that of Giorgio Armani and Miuccia Prada. Not a bad achievement for a former tie salesman from the Bronx, N.Y., who relied on his innate fashion sensibility and boundless self-confidence in the process of building one of the largest global clothing empires. His success is even more striking in light of his own profound disdain for “fashion” and its inherently capricious nature.

“I don’t like fashion. I have nothing to do with it,” he says in a 2017 GQ magazine interview on the occasion of his namesake company’s 50th anniversary. “I just don’t care about it. I don’t care about what they call men’s fashion. I think it’s a poisonous voice. People feel like when they do a fashion show, they’re going to blow their socks off. They get lost in thinking that the papers, the editors, the magazines are going to give them editorial and they’re fighting for editorial. ‘Look what I did this year!’”