ralph

Ralph Lauren was born as Ralph Lipschitz in New York in October of 1939. When Ralph was younger he was part of a lower-middle class family. Ralph had three other older brothers. Since the family didnt have enough money, Ralph Lauren had several jobs so he could buy designer clothes. At the age of 16, Ralph and his brother Jerry decided to change their last name to Lauren to sound more modern.

Ralph Lauren dropped out of school,City College in Manhattan, before completing his business major. He learned about fashion design through his night jobs. Lauren would work during the day too, at glove companies as a salesman. He then worked for a

manufacturer named A. Rivetz & Co., which led to the fashion he designs today. Around this time Ralph created a line and with a $50,000 loan, he founded the Polo label in 1968. Polo was considered the "power suit" of the early 80's. But Armani brought the Italian power suit back in style later on in the decade, this pushed aside Polo's preppy look. Lauren had fought back with his sophisticated line of men's shirts and suits, made of fine fabrics. He successfully catered to the office worker who wanted to look stylish, while looking powerful in the office. Eventually Lauren made a line of women's clothing, and home collection line.