Polo Ralph Lauren

The Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation is a publicly traded fashion company headquartered in New York City. Founded by Ralph Lauren in 1967 provides clothing and accessories in the luxury segment manufactures, distributes them worldwide in own stores as well as through retail stores and is internationally known for its offered under the brand name Polo by Ralph Lauren polo shirt with embroidered polo player at the preppy style.

History

The company Polo Ralph Lauren was established in 1967 in New York by the American Ralph Lauren ( born October 14, 1939), who had been from 1964 to 1966 seller at the American Haberdasher Brooks Brothers was founded. A loan of $ 50,000 enabled him to design a new tie line and sell it under the name Polo fashion to well-known retailers such as Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdale's. Already in the first year Lauren sat with his ties to U.S. $ 500,000. Fashion Polo was originally a brand of the company Brooks Brothers, and have been designed for a clothing line for polo players. Lauren bought Brooks Brothers off the rights to the brand in 1967. The first polo men's collection in New England - style appeared in 1968, the equivalent for ladies inspired by men's shirts blouses in female cuts and elegant trouser suits or tuxedos followed in 1971. Yet 1969 was a shop-in- shop in New York's Bloomingdale's store with Ralph Lauren Men's fashion was opened. The first freestanding Polo store opened in Beverly Hills in 1971 on Rodeo Drive.

In 1972, the brand for the first time achieved greater prominence in the United States, as Ralph Lauren began to produce polo shirts. The polo shirts with embroidered polo player at chest height have already been offered in the first collection in 24 different colors. Originally Lauren had the polo player installed from 1971 to Armaufschlägen of shirts. The embroidered polo player has been the expansion of its portfolio to more fashion lines in the 1990s, found exclusively in the Polo or Blue Label Collections, polo golf tennis, Pink Pony and children's collections, see Collections section below. Since the mid- 2000s, there is also the Big Pony collection within the Polo line with an oversized embroidered polo player.

The fact that Ralph Lauren in 1974, the actors, including Robert Redford, the movie The Great Gatsby endowed with elegant clothes in the style of the 1920s at the venue of the symbolic for wealthy Americans Hamptons, gave the young company immense publicity and prestige. In Woody Allen's Annie Hall The City EUR acted Ralph Lauren in 1977 as the official supplier of media attention.

By the end of the 1970s opened to the ten other polo stores in the United States. In the New Bond Street in London the first international store was opened in 1981 and is up there today. Two years later, Ralph Lauren acquired the Rhinelander Mansion building in New York's Madison Avenue, it fundamentally restructured and opened a flagship store there in 1986 on five floors. On the opposite side of the road a polo sports shop was opened in 1993, which was rebuilt in 2005 and increased in 2010 and converted into a women's boutique. Since then, the Rhinelander Mansion is purely a men's boutique. Even in 1986 a boutique was opened in Paris.

1997, the company was listed as the largest clothing companies under the name Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (ticker symbol PRL) on the New York Stock Exchange. The state in 2012 Ralph Lauren was in possession of approximately 73 % of the voting shares of PRL. In 2000 the company went into Internet commerce and, together with the NBC television network, the company RL media, which was responsible for the online marketing and website polo.com. The collaboration was designed by contract to 30 years. As early as 2007 but took over Ralph Lauren shares of NBC and renamed its website in order ralphlauren.com. In the same year Ralph Lauren Corporation with 4.2 billion in sales was one of the largest retailers in the United States. Since then, the online shop being extended to other countries, including Germany and Austria, expanded.

The Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation operating in 2011 under the name of Ralph Lauren 103 company-owned retail stores ( 61 in the Americas, 26 in Europe and 16 in Asia). These nearly 500 shops -in-shop in Asia, 201 Ralph Lauren factory outlet shops were (143 in North and South America, 35 in Europe and 23 in Asia ), 16 Rugby stores (until 2013 all closed or transactions other Ralph Lauren brand transformed ) and 59 Club Monaco stores in the U.S. and Canada. The official Ralph Lauren flagship store of the company include the large stores in New York ( 2x), Greenwich, Chicago, Paris, London, Milan, Moscow and Tokyo. Most international boutiques have in the past operated by other companies with licenses to the Ralph Lauren Corporation from the 2000s bought back many licenses, in order to gain full control over the presentation of the goods, among others. 2011, there were in Australia, New Zealand and South America, a total of 59 partners operated Ralph Lauren stores, 27 Ralph Lauren shop-in - shop as well as in Europe and Asia 58 foreign Club Monaco stores. In the retail trade outside the Ralph Lauren boutiques the Ralph Lauren brand in fiscal 2011 was to be found in over 11,000 authorized retail outlets worldwide. Of the approximately 5 billion dollars in revenue, which was achieved in 2010, were achieved 3.5 in the U.S. and Canada, a billion in Europe and 500 million in the other regions. In the same year, the company employed approximately 19,000 employees. In 2011, with a net profit of 681 million U.S. dollar sales of 6.9 billion U.S. dollars obtained ( 4.4 billion in North and South America, 1.5 billion in Europe and 970 million in Asia). The number of employees was in early 2012 about 25,000 employees worldwide. In addition to textiles, leather goods, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics, the company is still producing furniture and operates each of a Ralph Lauren boutique adjacent restaurant RL in Chicago ( since 1999) and Ralph's in Paris (since 2010). The license for the Ralph Lauren sunglasses collection is the Italian manufacturer Luxottica.

1970 was Ralph Lauren for his menswear, 1976 for both the men's and women's fashion 1977 women fashion again for the Coty Award, the 1985 replaced by the Fashion Award of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The CFDA honored Ralph Lauren 1981 ( women's fashion ), 1986 ( Retailer of the Year ), 1991 ( life's work, presented by Audrey Hepburn ) and 2007 ( men's fashion ).

Collections

As of 1967, the company has evolved from the Polo by Ralph Lauren Men's Collection with upscale sportswear and accessories in the medium price segment. In 1971, added the women's fashion. The high-priced catwalk line for women called the Ralph Lauren Collection 's portfolio now and will be presented with the New York fashion shows. ( Such as at the Milan Fashion Week or 2006 at the New York Fashion Week 2002) With few exceptions, will not be presented to the men's fashion by Ralph Lauren in fashion shows.

In 1987, the range with a separate golf fashions collection called Polo Golf was extended for men. The golf fashion for women followed 1990 1993 brought Ralph Lauren -. Inspired by his ranch in Colorado - the high-priced RRL collection ( ' Double RL ') with rustic western fashion for men on the market for which there are separate boutiques (since 2010 with women's fashion ). Likewise, in 1993 the sporty Polo Sport collection for men was introduced in 1996 followed the pendant for ladies who were, however, both set in 2005. The collection, launched in 1998 RLX ( ' Ralph Lauren Extreme'; initially as Polo Sport RLX ) for professional athletes took over from 2005 to the polo field sports line and includes a private golf division. In sports also there is a tennis collection for men and women, appear special collections for Wimbledon under whose name about sports sponsorship deals since 2005 for the annual U.S. Open since 2006.

In 1994, the exclusive Purple Label collection in the top price segment was added to the Mr range, which is based on the English landed gentry mode and partly in England or Italy, handcrafted items and a custom tailor service in Savile Row includes style. Launched in 1996 separate denim collection Polo Jeans Co. was founded in 2006 initially set, presented in 2007 Europe new, introduced in 2009 as Polo Denim world again and finally renamed Denim & Supply 2010. The Polo line for men corresponding Blue Label collection for women was officially introduced in 2002. Introduced in 2005, Ralph Lauren, the Black Label line with partly manufactured in Italy fashionably modern business and casual clothing and narrow silhouettes as a link between the Polo and Purple Label collection for men as well as the vector line and the Blue Label collection for women. In the North American retail shops is also the Lauren by Ralph Lauren business collection for men in the value price segment offered off the Ralph Lauren. Under the same name since 1996, there is a medium -priced women's fashion collection, which is including the necessary Lauren Jeans Co. line to buy even the Ralph Lauren boutiques. In 1999 for young women designed RALPH by Ralph Lauren line was removed from the market after a few years. For Men is an exclusively offered in the Dillard's department stores business line with the name Ralph by Ralph Lauren.

Is for men and women, moreover, with Pink Pony since 2000, a charity collection with pink polo players, mainly for breast cancer, donated their portion of the proceeds cancer research. For children of all ages (from children since 1976/1977, toddlers since 1993 ) have their own polo collections. For the housing needs under Ralph Lauren Home (since 1983 ) as well as Lauren Home will include home accessories, furniture, fabrics, cutlery and crockery, bedding, bathroom items and even wall color offered ( since 1995). Even for pets such as dogs can be found at Ralph Lauren Home Ralph Lauren fashion. Since 2009 there is the Ralph Lauren Watch and Jewelry Co. brand, under whose name high-priced watches and jewelry are offered for ladies in collaboration with the Swiss Richemont group.

Outside of the Ralph Lauren brand portfolio existed from 2004 to 2013, the separate brand Rugby Ralph Lauren with its own branch network for a younger target group, to date, the Chaps brand that belonged range in the early days for Ralph Lauren, and since the 2000s, only in the low price segment for the Department Store chain Kohl's is manufactured under license, the American Living brand, which was produced as in the low price segment from 2008 to 2012 for the JC Penney stores and since the acquisition of the original Canadian company in 1999, the fashion brand Club Monaco with its own branch network.

• Purple Label ( High-priced designer line since 1996)
• Black Label ( Elegant business and leisure line since 2005 with a denim expansion from 2011)
• Polo by Ralph Lauren ( Upscale Traditional sportswear line since 1967 )
• RRL Double RL ( denim line in the Western - style since 1993, its own boutiques )
• Lauren Ralph Lauren ( business line for department stores, including shoes )
• Ralph by Ralph Lauren ( business line for the department store chain Dillard's )

• RLX ( sports apparel since 1998)
• Polo Golf ( High-priced golf apparel since 1987)
• Tennis ( Tennis - line supplier to the U.S. Open and Wimbledon )
• Polo Sport (sportswear within the Polo line from 1993, 2005 by RLX replaced)
• Polo Jeans Co. (young denim sportswear from 1996, from 2007 to 2011 exclusively in Europe and Asia)
• Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren ( Global Succession Collection by Polo Jeans Co. since 2011 )
• Rugby Ralph Lauren (youth line college style, 2004-2013, formerly own boutiques )

• Create your own ( Customized Polo line since 2003)
• Pink Pony (Breast Cancer Charity Line with pink player )
• Big & Tall ( Big and long sizes within the Polo line )

• Ralph Lauren ( Men's shoes, sandals, sports shoes )
• Ralph ( sunglasses, accessories )

• Collection ( and high-priced designer line since 1971 )
• Black Label ( Elegant Ladies line since 2005)
• Blue Label (youth sportswear collection since 2002)
• RRL Double RL ( Western -style denim line since 1993, its own boutiques )
• Lauren ( Traditional Ladies line, even in small ( ' Petite ') and large ( ' Woman' ) Sizes )
• Lauren Jeans Co. and Lauren Active (Denim and sports collections within the Lauren line)

• RLX ( sports apparel since 1998)
• Ralph Lauren Golf ( High-priced golf apparel since 1998)
• Ralph Lauren Tennis (tennis line, outfitters U.S. Open and Wimbledon )
• Polo Sport ( sports clothing for women from 1996, 2005 RLX replaced)
• Polo Jeans Co. (young denim sportswear from 1996, from 2007, no longer in the U.S.)
• Denim & Supply Ralph Lauren ( Global Succession Collection by Polo Jeans Co. since 2011 )
• Rugby Ralph Lauren (youth line college style, 2004-2013 powered)

• Create your own ( Customized Polo line since 2003)
• Pink Pony (Breast Cancer Charity Line with pink player )

• Ralph Lauren ( Women's shoes, sandals, sports shoes )
• Ralph ( sunglasses, accessories )

Cosmetics

Since 1978, perfume and personal care products sold under the name Polo Ralph Lauren. The license for Ralph Lauren awarded to the French cosmetics company L' Oréal.

The first perfume for men called Polo ( 1978), the ladies Lauren (1978). These two followed by numerous other fragrances for ladies and / or gentlemen, some of which were discontinued after some time: Chaps (1979 ), Tuxedo ( 1979), Chaps Musk (1985 ), Monogram (1985 ), Safari (1990 /1992), Polo Crest (1991 ) Polo Sport ( 1996), Extreme Polo Sport ( 1998), Romance (1998/ 1999), Ralph (2000 and numerous variations ), Glamorous (2001 ) Polo Blue (2002 ), Ralph Lauren Blue ( 2003), Romance Silver ( 2003), Purple Label (2003), Lauren Style ( 2004 ), Pure Turquoise (2005 ) Polo Black (2005), Double Black (2006 ) Polo Explorer ( 2007), Polo Modern reserve ( 2008 ), Notorious (2008), Love (2008), Romance Always Yours (2008 ) Big Pony Collection (2010/ 2012).

Sports sponsorship

Ralph Lauren is the official outfitter of the Wimbledon tournament, the U.S. Open, the U.S. Olympic team and various golf professionals. The company is responsible for these events for the design of the clothing of the ball boys, judges and other tournament participants.

Ralph Lauren brands in South Africa

In South Africa, the sale and purchase of clothing brand Polo Ralph Lauren is prohibited. The South African company Polo South Africa ( since 1998 LA Group Ltd.). Already secured in the 1970s, the name and the logo of a polo mounted polo player and operates in South Africa Polo own businesses.