“I am not looking like Armani today and somebody else tomorrow,” says Lauren. “I look like Ralph Lauren. And my goal is to constantly move in fashion and move in style without giving up what I am.”
When Lauren first named his company Polo, it set the stage for things to come. He was laying the first building blocks to the kind of brand that he wanted to stand for. “I’ve always loved sports but it didn’t make much sense to call my brand ‘Basketball’ or ‘Baseball’ so I decided on ‘Polo.’ Of course I didn’t play polo but I liked that it represented a feeling of being international, European and yet very healthy American,” says Lauren. “It was the sport of kings. It was glamorous, sexy, and international.”
From that day, Lauren has built his company around that image – an image of class, power and prestige. And he has been sure to take it beyond just his clothes.
“What I do is about living,” says Lauren. “It’s about living the best life you can and enjoying the fullness of the life around you - from what you wear, to the way you live, to the way you love.” Lauren has taken his company from being a way of dressing to a way of living. He has marketed his brand as a lifestyle. Now, not only can you wear Lauren designs, but you can buy Lauren paint, Lauren towels, Lauren furniture, and more.
In designing his products, whether the clothes or house wares, Lauren says he always strives for one thing: consistency. “What matters the most to me are clothes that are consistent and accessible,” he says. “When I look at the people I’ve admired over the years, the ultimate stars like Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and Astaire, the ones who last the longest are the ones whose style has a consistency, whose naturalness is part of their excitement.”
The challenge of remaining consistent is one that Lauren believes plagues much of the fashion industry. “When you think of the blur of all the brands that are out there, the ones you believe in and the ones you remember, like Chanel and Armani, are the ones that stand for something,” he says. “Fashion is about establishing an image that consumers can adapt to their own individuality. And it's an image that can change, that can evolve. It doesn't reinvent itself every two years.”
Despite his conviction, becoming a lifestyle brand has threatened his business on more than one occasion. In the late 1990s, the Lauren name and logo had begun to appear on too much low-end product. Lauren had tried to build such a large brand that he overextended himself and ended up devaluing the business. In response, Lauren hired a new team of fashion and finance executives who helped him bring the company back to life. Polo was now no longer a company of licensing, department stores, and factory outlets. Now, it was back to being a luxury retail business.
Lauren learned the hard way that not all business is good business when you’re building your brand. By changing his business model, he was able to refocus and add more value to his brand. He continues to partner with department stores such as J.C. Penney to reach what Lauren feels is a large untapped market that wants quality goods at moderate prices. But this time, he is careful not to go too far, and to ensure excellence at every price point.
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