Why is ralph lauren famous

The ties were sold successfully at New York department store Bloomingdales encouraging him to release a full menswear line a year later. In he followed up with a line of tailored suits for women and soon after released his iconic, colourful, short-sleeved polo shirts that would become the brand's signature look.

Despite being known for his luxury designs, Mr Lauren came from humble beginnings. The young Lauren did not start out with any ambition to be a fashion designer.

He was working for Brooks Brothers as a salesman when the desire to create his own line of neck-ties struck. In its year history, the company has gone far beyond runway fashion. The Ralph Lauren Company includes home goods and fragrance brands. As a designer he has also embraced sports. The company has sponsored and designed outfits worn by golfers, tennis players and Olympians. Polo Ralph Lauren was the first label to sponsor Wimbledon in The brand redesigned the uniforms worn by the ball boys and girls and the judges.

These events have enabled the brand to represent the American look on a world stage and incorporate some of the preppy design elements Polo Ralph Lauren is known for. Owned by its legendary founder, Ralph Lauren is an iconic American fashion brand built on an essential lifestyle promise. The Ralph Lauren brand has always been synonymous with high-quality American apparel. It started out with making rags into ties, which makes the fashion and lifestyle label a true rags-to-riches American Dream personified.

A combination of rich American heritage, exquisite craftsmanship, eye for detail across all touch points across channels and high levels of quality in crafting and executing a distinct brand universe has provided Ralph Lauren with a unique identity in the very competitive and ever-changing world of fashion and lifestyle.

In the 50 years since it was founded in , Ralph Lauren has been credited with almost creating the quintessential American lifestyle. The brand has used classic designs as the core but has also evolved them in line with emerging trends. Revenues for the fiscal year stood at USD 6. At the end of fiscal year , the company had directly operated stores, which included Ralph Lauren stores, 77 Club Monaco stores and Polo Factory stores.

The company has an estimated 23, employees across the world. Today, the Ralph Lauren Group manages a total of 17 fashion brands and 4 lifestyle brands across directly operated stores in 30 countries. Ralph Lauren is most well-known for the Polo shirt from the oldest brand in its portfolio — Polo Ralph Lauren.

The distinct identity of a preppy, aspirational American look is so powerful that it is now defined as a key element of American fashion. With a multitude of sub-brands under the umbrella brand of Ralph Lauren catering to the needs of various market segments, Ralph Lauren has indeed become one of the strongest fashion brands in the world. Unlike the usual practices of branding that are normally seen in the consumer goods industry, the branding philosophy in the fashion and luxury goods industry is quite different.

As design is the most important ingredient of fashion and luxury apparel, the individual style and personalities of these designers became crucial to creating and sustaining the brand strategy of each of the houses. The unique designs and patterns that reflect the personality of the creator gave the brand its identity and helped it in attaining a differentiated image.

A majority of the differences between these fashion houses were also driven by the fact that the founders took up roles that influenced the creative vision and direction of the whole house something similar to what Ralph Lauren is now doing. In , a tradition was started wherein colleagues presented a Steiff bear version of both Jerry and Ralph Lauren to each of them as a birthday gift. The bear was dressed preppy style, just like how Jerry Lauren dressed at the time. I am anti-fashion.

Walking into any Ralph Lauren store, one will immediately notice that the majority of the apparel designs veer towards the classics — think clean-cut oxford shirts and basic polo shirts with the embroidered pony.

The Ralph Lauren brand, since its launch, has crafted and operationalized a strategy that directly taps into a blue ocean opportunity in the fashion industry — the balance between haute couture sophistication and classical lines design and heritage.

By successfully mixing a new age identity with classical designs, Ralph Lauren has maintained its appeal with a wide range of consumers. This has also allowed it to attract consumers from different age groups, and has allowed it to hold on to them as they have progressively aged.

The balance of class and simplicity allows consumers to express their personalities by wearing Ralph Lauren. The design of its apparels starts on a blank canvas, allowing the consumer the flexibility to interpret and bring out his or her individual style in the final product. This effortless and clever design strategy has not only enhanced the Ralph Lauren brand identity, but has also allowed it to strengthen its equity in different market and product segments.

Maintaining this balance between the classics and latest trends is not a one-off tactic for Ralph Lauren. In September , it announced that it would revive one of its coolest and most successful collections from the s — the Polo Stadium Collection launched during the Barcelona Olympics which was in turn inspired by the uniforms worn by American athletes in the s and s.

The Ralph Lauren brand is created for a consumer that values quality, exclusivity, style, fine living and prestige. He or she appreciates the quintessential American look and timeless classics, and aspires to be respected and recognized for his or her wealth and sophistication.

It is currently the official outfitter for all on-court officials at both the Wimbledon and US Open tennis tournament, and the official parade outfitter for the US Olympic and Paralympic Teams. The Ralph Lauren brand has not been a laggard in the creation and implementation of digital and mobile marketing strategies. As digital and social media marketing increasingly became critical platforms to engage with consumers in the fashion and luxury space, most of its marketing efforts today are focused on digital and social media.

These efforts have seen considerable success by being innovative and highly customer-centric. For example, Ralph Lauren publishes its own editorial content in its RL Magazine — a clever way to advertise by providing useful fashion content to consumers.

In , Ralph Lauren launched the Make Your Own Rugby iPhone mobile application, allowing customers to select a blank shirt, polo, sweater or jacket and customize it with distinguished crests, football-themed patches and letters. They are largely focused on family, romance, and elegant living with a huge representation of the polo player, symbolizing refinement, affluence, esteem and style.

Ralph Lauren follows one of the fundamental principles of brand building to the core, which is about having consistency in brand messages and positioning over a long term. With a CMO in place, Ralph Lauren hopes to achieve greater alignment between marketing efforts and corporate strategy, and a stronger customer focus in both strategic and tactical initiatives.

Ralph Lauren always had a long-term vision in shaping its product portfolio. It has always been important for the brand to link its different apparel and accessories lines under a single cohesive identity.

The brand is currently going through a difficult time with decline in revenues and the need for optimisation of its operations. It has now become even more important for the brand to ensure that its product portfolio works together and portrays a consistent and credible image for the brand. It is also exploring opportunities to broaden its product lines and also venture beyond fashion. Regardless of the outcome of these initiatives, it is important for Ralph Lauren to ensure that the expanded product portfolio still has a strong link with the iconic parent brand.

Ralph Lauren has always enjoyed success due to positive consumer perceptions of its classic designs, high quality and premium image.

It has followed an expansion strategy using the same core credentials into other fashion segments. The Ralph Lauren brand architecture has always been a topic for branding discussions as the architecture is constantly optimized to maximise the Ralph Lauren brand equity. Because of this executives do not hesitate to kill sub-brands that do not perform well — some examples of sub-brands that have left the portfolio are Ralph Lauren Black Label, Ralph Lauren Blue Label and Ralph Lauren Rugby.

As of February , the Ralph Lauren brand portfolio comprises of 17 fashion brands, each differentiated by a different line of apparel with specific targeting towards different marketing and consumer segments. In reality both Ralph Lauren and Polo have masterbrand status and are used to endorse specific sub-brands.

The Ralph Lauren masterbrand has a broader equity compared to that of Polo, which is more used for endorsement of Polo-specific apparel lines. Brands that are part of the portfolio from acquisitions are allowed to operate without any form of endorsement. The current portfolio stands as below and ensures that the Ralph Lauren masterbrand has its influence throughout the portfolio:. It now offers accessories including eye wear, handbags, hats, scarves, gloves, belts and small leather goods as well.

With its high price point, it targets the fashion-conscious and refined lady. It was launched in and offers rustic-styled apparel inspired by the independent, hardworking spirit of the West — including denim, military-grade chinos, sweaters, flannels, vintage accessories and leather goods. It was launched in and offers a large range of apparel, bags and accessories, from sophisticated work dresses to swimwear to sleepwear.

He believed in enjoying the moment — but also keeping on the ball and moving forward. When it came to designing clothing, he came up with designs that he would want to wear himself. He imagined clothing fit for movie stars. Brand expansion He started out in menswear and launched his first tailored shirts for women in , with his now-famous Polo player emblem. He also opened his store on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, the same year. In , Lauren launched his iconic Polo Sport line, followed by additional lines and acquired brands, such as Ralph Lauren Purple Label in Challenges In June , it was reported the Ralph Lauren brand was struggling in some quarters.

Analysts blamed discounting and lower-end products, claiming they cheapened its image, while a failure to attract younger consumers was also cited. In , the designer responded by launching wearable tech, in the shape of a fitness technology shirt, combined with a mobile app. The PoloTech Smartshirt athletic apparel pioneered physical tracking technology. Data was streamed to an app that generated customised workout programs, enabling Polo Sport to compete with the likes of Nike, Adidas and other leading sports brands.