Ralph Lauren’s announcement Sept. 29 that he was stepping down as CEO of his fashion empire, marks the end of one road for a designer who has sold aspirational lifestyles as much as clothing.
“I grew up with him and Donna Karan and Calvin Klein,” said Jay Calderin, who teaches at the School of Fashion Design in Boston. “He’s been making beautiful clothes for a long time, but what he really creates is that incredible whole package.”
Calderin notes Lauren’s ability to tap into the world of privilege, pointing to the designer’s early defining moment with the polo shirt. Once a garment associated with prep schools and country clubs , Lauren, now 75, had teenagers wearing them — often one layered upon another — with the collars up.
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“We take it for granted now. If you played polo, you wore one, but with Ralph it became a fashion item. You wanted that polo emblem on your shirt,” Calderin said. “He made those other worlds really accessible.”
Equally remarkable, was Lauren’s ability to produce mid- and lower-priced, mass-produced goods without diluting the brand.
“Designers before him licensed like crazy, but he was one of the first to recognize that even the least expensive thing, the entry-level item had to have that brand running through its veins,” he said. “He kept control over everything. There’s a level of quality in the most basic item — not just quality of workmanship, but quality of the aesthetic. It was Ralph Lauren and there was no doubt it was Ralph Lauren.”
Lauren says he will remain involved with the company. But in passing the reins to 41-year-old executive Stefan Larsson, Lasell College professor Jill Carey believes the company has more lifestyle concepts to explore, and hopes they create the same influence his early designs did.
“Ralph Lauren is really a brand,” Carey said. “He would say, ‘I am going to create an environment. My product is going to be in that environment. You going into that space and you’re going to want it.’ ”
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Jill Radsken can be reached at jill.radsken@gmail.com.