Lauren is an avid car enthusiast. His rare and classic car collection has won numerous best in show awards and has been featured at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. But for Lauren, spending money on expensive cars was never just about driving fast or looking good.
“At some point in my long relationship and love of cars, I became aware of a powerful degree of admiration for these highly creative individuals such as Ettore Bugatti and Enzo Ferrari, and David Brown at Aston Martin and Jaguar’s William Lyons,” he says. “These men were spiritually connected to the cars they were developing. They were their brands. Their origins were based in something I look on or beyond as exciting sensibility. And that ‘exciting sensibility’ is an important part of what it takes to make people connect with what these automotive innovators were creating.”
Understanding what it was that attracted him to cars – that “exciting sensibility” – was a key part of Lauren’s formula for his own success. Much like the innovators who designed his cars, Lauren wanted to create clothes that people could connect with. He wanted to do more than just cover people’s bodies; he wanted to design clothes that would excite their senses.
That was what Lauren had in mind in 1986, when he decided to open his new flagship store in New York’s famous Rhinelander Mansion, a huge French Renaissance Revival mansion built in the 19th century. Called “the best boutique in America, probably the world,” by one critic, Lauren undertook a large-scale overhaul of the building in order to have it ready for his lines. By showcasing his clothes here, Lauren wanted to give his customers an extraordinary experience, and share his dreams with them. It was called fashion retailing history.
Lauren continued his trend of creating excitement around his products in the fall of 2003, when he went against custom in launching his latest collection. He could have shown his latest line in his uptown New York showroom. That was what it was made for after all. But that would have been too boring for Lauren. Instead, he chose to present his new line of autumn classics in the Chelsea studio of Annie Liebowitz, a photographer who is herself known for pushing the boundaries and creating edgy pictures. Lauren’s collection of white and silver gowns, showcased against the backdrop of a red brick wall, was meant to shock and excite.
“My goal in design is to achieve the best reality imaginable,” says Lauren. “I believe in design that has integrity, design that lasts, and whatever it is, it must be part of the lifestyle and become more personal with time.”
By mixing innovation with tradition, Lauren has been able to not just give people good quality clothing, but also to give them an experience, filled with an excitement that will not be soon forgotten. It is what brought Lauren to his cars, and what brought the people to his clothes.
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