WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.720 You know, we talk a lot on this show about disruptors. 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:05.240 And usually that word, it makes you think of 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:07.940 Silicon Valley, right? Guys in hoodies, lines 00:00:07.940 --> 00:00:10.480 of code that change how we hail a taxi or order 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:14.640 a pizza. But today, I want to talk about a disruptor 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:18.960 who did it with a silk tie. Yeah. A guy who looked 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:22.519 at the American class system, which was, I mean... 00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:24.899 pretty rigidly defined in the mid -20th century 00:00:24.899 --> 00:00:27.120 and said, I'm going to hack this. It really is 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.179 a hack, isn't it? It's a social hack. Exactly. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:32.159 We are looking at a man who essentially invented 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:34.679 an entire aesthetic. And I don't just mean a 00:00:34.679 --> 00:00:36.759 style of shirt. I mean the whole world. All world. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.960 A world of manicured lawns, roaring fireplaces, 00:00:40.359 --> 00:00:43.100 vintage convertibles, and this very specific, 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:46.000 very golden version of the American dream. It's 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:48.000 a world that feels old, you know, like it's been 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:50.179 there since the Mayflower. But the reality. and 00:00:50.179 --> 00:00:52.299 this is what we are here to unpack, is that it 00:00:52.299 --> 00:00:55.659 wasn't inherited. It was built. It was manufactured 00:00:55.659 --> 00:00:59.140 from scratch by one man in his lifetime. It's 00:00:59.140 --> 00:01:01.240 a masterclass in storytelling, branding, and 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:04.200 pure, unadulterated business grit. We are diving 00:01:04.200 --> 00:01:06.799 deep today into the life and the massive business 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:10.760 empire of Ralph Lauren. And the timing is, well... 00:01:10.989 --> 00:01:13.769 It's perfect. As we look at the landscape here 00:01:13.769 --> 00:01:17.870 in May 2025, Ralph Lauren is 86 years old. 86. 00:01:18.150 --> 00:01:20.670 He is sitting on a net worth estimated at 11 00:01:20.670 --> 00:01:24.189 .9 billion U .S. dollars. And just a few months 00:01:24.189 --> 00:01:27.959 ago, in January 2025. He became the first fashion 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:30.379 designer to ever receive the Presidential Medal 00:01:30.379 --> 00:01:32.480 of Freedom. Which, just to pause there, is a 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:34.400 massive deal. That is the nation's highest civilian 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:36.879 honor. Right. When you look at the list of recipients, 00:01:37.140 --> 00:01:39.319 it is usually statesmen, scientists, civil rights 00:01:39.319 --> 00:01:41.680 activists. For a fashion designer to break into 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:43.840 that tier, it says something profound about his 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:46.599 impact. He didn't just dress America. He helped 00:01:46.599 --> 00:01:50.040 define how America sees itself. He sort of curated 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:52.260 the national image. And that is the hook for 00:01:52.260 --> 00:01:54.450 me. Because if you look at the glossy ads, you 00:01:54.450 --> 00:01:56.549 see this image of old money, of aristocracy. 00:01:56.890 --> 00:01:59.250 But the man behind it, he started out working 00:01:59.250 --> 00:02:01.409 from a single drawer in the Empire State Building. 00:02:01.549 --> 00:02:03.930 Not an office. Not an office, a drawer. And he 00:02:03.930 --> 00:02:06.569 was delivering the goods himself. It is the ultimate 00:02:06.569 --> 00:02:09.509 contrast. And that is our mission for this deep 00:02:09.509 --> 00:02:11.750 dive. We are going to unpack the business of 00:02:11.750 --> 00:02:14.129 this dream. We aren't just looking at the polo 00:02:14.129 --> 00:02:16.069 shirts or the color palettes. We are looking 00:02:16.069 --> 00:02:19.310 at how a kid from the Bronx built a lifestyle 00:02:19.310 --> 00:02:23.000 empire. how he revolutionized retail architecture, 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:26.400 how he amassed one of the most valuable car collections 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:29.120 on the planet, literally worth hundreds of millions, 00:02:29.340 --> 00:02:32.719 and how he stepped in to save the actual Star 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:35.080 Spangled Banner. I love that story about the 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:37.099 flag. It feels like the perfect metaphor for 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:39.080 his life. But we have to start at the beginning. 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:41.360 Yeah. Because before he was Ralph Lauren, the 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:43.919 global icon, he was a kid named Ralph Lischitz. 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:47.039 That's right. Born October 14, 1939, the Bronx, 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.919 New York. His parents, Frida and Frank. were 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:53.080 Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from Pinsk, Belarus. 00:02:53.379 --> 00:02:55.000 And just to set the scene, because context is 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:56.860 everything here. Right. This wasn't the country 00:02:56.860 --> 00:02:59.120 club life he would later depict in his ads. Not 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:01.020 at all. This was the Bronx in the 40s and 50s. 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:03.139 His dad wasn't playing polo. He was an artist 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:05.639 and a house painter. Ralph was the youngest of 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:07.939 four siblings. It was a very grounded immigrant 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:12.060 upbringing. And that immigrant experience is 00:03:12.060 --> 00:03:13.719 crucial. If you don't understand that, you don't 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:15.900 understand the brand. You have this intense desire 00:03:15.900 --> 00:03:19.539 to assimilate, to become American, whatever that... 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.500 meant at the time. For that generation of Jewish 00:03:22.500 --> 00:03:25.219 immigrants in New York, there was a palpable 00:03:25.219 --> 00:03:28.280 pressure to fit in to smooth out the edges of 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:32.300 the old country. And for Ralph, that desire manifested 00:03:32.300 --> 00:03:35.379 in a very specific and frankly, a very painful 00:03:35.379 --> 00:03:38.699 way around the age of 16. The name change. Now, 00:03:38.759 --> 00:03:40.400 this is often the first thing people bring up 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:42.240 about him. Sometimes cynically they say, oh, 00:03:42.280 --> 00:03:44.699 he changed his name to sound fancy. Yeah, that's 00:03:44.699 --> 00:03:46.400 the common take. But the source material paints 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:48.800 a much, much darker picture. It does. Look, we 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:50.659 have to be real about this. His last name was 00:03:50.659 --> 00:03:53.180 Lipschitz. Right. He's a teenager in an American 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:56.259 high school in the 1950s. The name contains a 00:03:56.259 --> 00:03:58.860 literal obscenity in English. He wasn't changing 00:03:58.860 --> 00:04:01.280 his name because he had a grand vision of a fashion 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:03.800 label yet. He was changing it because he was 00:04:03.800 --> 00:04:06.840 getting hammered. Bullying. Relentless bullying. 00:04:06.990 --> 00:04:10.250 The notes were explicit about this. And he wasn't 00:04:10.250 --> 00:04:12.210 even the first in his family to make the change. 00:04:12.409 --> 00:04:14.889 Oh, I didn't realize that. Yeah, his older brother, 00:04:15.009 --> 00:04:17.550 Jerry, had already changed his surname to Lauren. 00:04:17.769 --> 00:04:21.290 Why? Because he had been bullied while serving 00:04:21.290 --> 00:04:23.829 in the U .S. Air Force. Wow. Think about that. 00:04:23.889 --> 00:04:26.569 You are serving your country, wearing the uniform, 00:04:26.810 --> 00:04:29.149 and you are still a target because of your name. 00:04:29.329 --> 00:04:31.470 So when Ralph and his brother, George, decided 00:04:31.470 --> 00:04:33.949 to change their name from Lifshitz to Lauren 00:04:33.949 --> 00:04:37.430 at age 16... It wasn't an aesthetic choice. It 00:04:37.430 --> 00:04:39.850 was a survival tactic. Exactly. It was a protective 00:04:39.850 --> 00:04:42.790 measure. But here is the fascinating psychological 00:04:42.790 --> 00:04:47.269 pivot. By changing his name, he essentially learned 00:04:47.269 --> 00:04:50.329 the first lesson of branding. What's that? The 00:04:50.329 --> 00:04:53.350 label on the package changes how people treat 00:04:53.350 --> 00:04:55.970 the contents. Whether that package is a boy from 00:04:55.970 --> 00:04:58.670 the Bronx or a necktie, the name dictates the 00:04:58.670 --> 00:05:01.449 value perception. He rebranded himself before 00:05:01.449 --> 00:05:03.550 he ever branded a product. That is a brilliant 00:05:03.550 --> 00:05:05.790 insight. He realized he could edit his own story. 00:05:05.910 --> 00:05:07.430 And he wasn't alone in that environment, was 00:05:07.430 --> 00:05:10.170 he, in the Bronx at that time? Not at all. He 00:05:10.170 --> 00:05:12.569 attended the Manhattan Talmudical Academy and 00:05:12.569 --> 00:05:14.889 then DeWitt Clinton High School, graduating in 00:05:14.889 --> 00:05:19.529 1957. And if you look at his cohort, it's actually 00:05:19.529 --> 00:05:22.709 staggering. He was part of this incredible generation 00:05:22.709 --> 00:05:26.240 of... design leaders raised in the Jewish community 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:29.360 in the Bronx. Like who? You had Calvin Klein. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:31.720 You had Robert Denning. What was in the water 00:05:31.720 --> 00:05:34.079 in the Bronx back then? It's the outsider's perspective. 00:05:34.279 --> 00:05:36.540 That's what I think it is. When you are on the 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:39.600 outside looking in at the good life, at the WASPy 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:42.459 culture, the Ivy League world, you observe it 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:46.129 more. continually than the people actually living 00:05:46.129 --> 00:05:48.329 it. You study it. You study it. You deconstruct 00:05:48.329 --> 00:05:51.129 it. Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, they were analyzing 00:05:51.129 --> 00:05:53.189 American style with a forensic eye because they 00:05:53.189 --> 00:05:54.829 wanted to be part of it. So he graduates high 00:05:54.829 --> 00:05:57.149 school, goes to Baruch College to study business. 00:05:57.629 --> 00:05:59.750 Briefly. Right. Very briefly. He drops out after 00:05:59.750 --> 00:06:03.509 two years. And then he joins the army. From 1962 00:06:03.509 --> 00:06:06.689 to 1964. I think this period is often overlooked 00:06:06.689 --> 00:06:08.990 in the biographies. But for a young man in that 00:06:08.990 --> 00:06:11.509 era, military service was another layer of that 00:06:11.509 --> 00:06:13.850 Americanization process. It puts you in a uniform. 00:06:14.009 --> 00:06:16.230 It creates a sense of belonging to the national 00:06:16.230 --> 00:06:18.829 identity. It's the ultimate equalizer. So he 00:06:18.829 --> 00:06:20.670 comes out of the army and this is where the hustle 00:06:20.670 --> 00:06:22.329 really begins. And I want to spend some time 00:06:22.329 --> 00:06:24.129 here because people think Ralph Lauren and they 00:06:24.129 --> 00:06:27.050 think instant success. But he didn't jump straight 00:06:27.050 --> 00:06:29.589 into designing couture. No way. He went into 00:06:29.589 --> 00:06:32.850 the trenches of sales. And this is the best training 00:06:32.850 --> 00:06:36.240 ground for any entrepreneur. He worked as a sales 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:38.740 assistant at Brooks Brothers. Then he became 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:41.240 a salesman for a necktie company called Rivets. 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:44.300 Okay. This is critical. He learned the floor. 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:46.540 He learned what people bought. He learned the 00:06:46.540 --> 00:06:48.899 tactile reality of the business. He wasn't in 00:06:48.899 --> 00:06:51.800 a design studio sketching fantasy dresses. He 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:54.639 was seeing what guys were actually willing to 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:56.879 pull their wallets out for. But he wasn't satisfied 00:06:56.879 --> 00:06:59.660 just selling other people's stuff. And he certainly 00:06:59.660 --> 00:07:01.680 wasn't satisfied with the style of the time. 00:07:01.819 --> 00:07:05.180 No. And here's the spark. He is 28 years old. 00:07:05.259 --> 00:07:07.959 He is working for a tie manufacturer called Bo 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:12.519 Brummel. Now, in 1967, what did a tie look like? 00:07:12.660 --> 00:07:15.980 Skinny, right? Very narrow. Skinny. It was dark. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:19.470 It was conservative. It was, frankly... Boring. 00:07:19.689 --> 00:07:22.709 It was the Mad Men era uniform, but the tail 00:07:22.709 --> 00:07:24.910 end of it where it had lost its soul. And Ralph 00:07:24.910 --> 00:07:27.050 wanted to do something different. Radical, actually. 00:07:27.149 --> 00:07:29.709 He wanted to make ties wide. He wanted opulent 00:07:29.709 --> 00:07:31.410 fabrics. He wanted them to look like something 00:07:31.410 --> 00:07:33.290 an English duke would wear on a hunting trip. 00:07:33.529 --> 00:07:36.089 Right. He convinces the company president, Beau 00:07:36.089 --> 00:07:39.089 Brummel, to let him start his own line. In 1967, 00:07:39.529 --> 00:07:42.430 the Ralph Lauren Corporation launches. And it 00:07:42.430 --> 00:07:45.800 starts with just ties. It ties. This leads us 00:07:45.800 --> 00:07:48.319 to that famous drawer story I mentioned in the 00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:50.279 intro. And I want you to paint the picture for 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:52.360 us because this is the definition of starting 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:56.040 lean. It's a great image. 1968, he launches his 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:59.079 first full menswear line, which he names Polo. 00:07:59.779 --> 00:08:02.420 But he doesn't have a glitzy headquarters. He 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:04.540 doesn't have a receptionist. He is working out 00:08:04.540 --> 00:08:07.279 of a single drawer in his showroom in the Empire 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:09.220 State Building. Single drawer? I mean, imagine 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:11.199 that. You are in one of the most famous buildings 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:14.220 in the world, a symbol of American power, but 00:08:14.220 --> 00:08:16.600 your entire business footprint fits in a piece 00:08:16.600 --> 00:08:20.180 of furniture. And he wasn't sitting back waiting 00:08:20.180 --> 00:08:23.160 for orders. The source material notes that he 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:26.699 made deliveries to stores himself. Wow. That 00:08:26.699 --> 00:08:29.819 is the grit behind the glamour. He is hauling 00:08:29.819 --> 00:08:32.480 doxes of ties and shirts through the streets 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:34.960 of New York, probably sweating through his suit, 00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:38.220 dealing with loading docks and inventory managers. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.559 And there's a story about Bloomingdale's here 00:08:40.559 --> 00:08:43.139 that I think defines his business character. 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:45.860 The source material touches on his breakthrough 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:48.480 there. But the context is that he initially faced 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.320 rejection. He did. And this is the business of 00:08:51.320 --> 00:08:53.820 the American dream lesson right here. When he 00:08:53.820 --> 00:08:56.179 first pitched his wide ties to Bloomingdale's, 00:08:56.179 --> 00:08:59.120 they said yes. OK, so they liked them. They liked 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:01.159 them, but with a condition. They said, we'll 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:02.860 take them, but you have to make them narrower 00:09:02.860 --> 00:09:04.279 and you have to take your name off the label. 00:09:04.460 --> 00:09:06.460 We want to put the Bloomingdale's house brand 00:09:06.460 --> 00:09:08.820 on them. That's a standard retailer move. We 00:09:08.820 --> 00:09:10.559 own the customer. You're just the manufacturer. 00:09:10.940 --> 00:09:13.779 Exactly. And most young entrepreneurs, desperate 00:09:13.779 --> 00:09:15.899 for cash, working out of a drawer, would have 00:09:15.899 --> 00:09:18.240 said, yes, absolutely. Where do I sign? Of course. 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:20.720 It's Bloomingdale's. It's the Holy Grail. Yeah. 00:09:20.899 --> 00:09:24.500 But Ralph. What'd he do? He walked away. He said 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:27.679 no. He closed the sample case and walked out 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:30.220 of the biggest account in the city. He refused 00:09:30.220 --> 00:09:33.120 to compromise the product integrity or his brand 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:36.340 identity. Six months later, Bloomingdale's came 00:09:36.340 --> 00:09:38.820 back to him and said, OK, fine, we'll do it your 00:09:38.820 --> 00:09:41.779 way. That takes nerves of steel. It really does. 00:09:42.019 --> 00:09:45.899 And it paid off. By 1969, Bloomingdale's didn't 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:48.559 just buy the ties. They gave him a shop -and 00:09:48.559 --> 00:09:51.440 -shop boutique. And I want to dig into that term, 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:53.720 shop -and -shop, because it sounds like retail 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:56.360 jargon, but it was actually a revolution. It 00:09:56.360 --> 00:09:58.679 was a total paradigm shift. Before this, if you 00:09:58.679 --> 00:10:00.399 were a designer selling to a department store, 00:10:00.659 --> 00:10:02.940 your shirts went on the shirt rack next to 10 00:10:02.940 --> 00:10:05.139 other brands. Your pants went on the pants rack. 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:07.980 You were a commodity. Right. Ralph realized that 00:10:07.980 --> 00:10:10.419 his product wasn't just a shirt. It was a vibe. 00:10:10.580 --> 00:10:13.200 It was a context. If you put his wide, expensive 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:15.779 tie next to a cheap, skinny tie, it looks out 00:10:15.779 --> 00:10:18.019 of place. But if you put it next to a mahogany 00:10:18.019 --> 00:10:20.480 shelf, a leather chair, and a picture of a cricket 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:23.179 match, suddenly it makes sense. So he demanded 00:10:23.179 --> 00:10:25.779 his own real estate inside the store. He demanded 00:10:25.779 --> 00:10:28.909 control. He controlled the lighting, the fixtures, 00:10:28.929 --> 00:10:31.450 the wood paneling. He created a hermetically 00:10:31.450 --> 00:10:34.049 sealed environment within Bloomingdale's where, 00:10:34.149 --> 00:10:36.230 for five minutes, you weren't in a department 00:10:36.230 --> 00:10:38.409 store in New York. You were in Ralph's world. 00:10:38.730 --> 00:10:41.809 Wow. This shifted the power dynamic from the 00:10:41.809 --> 00:10:44.769 retailer to the designer forever. And once he 00:10:44.769 --> 00:10:46.830 proved that worked, he took the next logical 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:50.909 step. In 1971, he opens a store on Rodeo Drive 00:10:50.909 --> 00:10:54.169 in Beverly Hills. Which was the first freestanding 00:10:54.169 --> 00:10:56.870 store for an American designer. Think about that. 00:10:57.070 --> 00:10:59.929 Before this, American designers were wholesalers. 00:10:59.970 --> 00:11:02.289 They sold to stores. They didn't have stores. 00:11:02.750 --> 00:11:05.149 Ralph Lauren changed the retail model. He said, 00:11:05.250 --> 00:11:08.190 no, I need my own temple. And speaking of temples 00:11:08.190 --> 00:11:10.269 and symbols, we have to talk about the logo, 00:11:10.450 --> 00:11:13.710 the polo player. It is arguably one of the most 00:11:13.710 --> 00:11:16.330 recognizable symbols in global commerce today. 00:11:16.610 --> 00:11:18.789 Oh, for sure. It's up there with the Nike swoosh 00:11:18.789 --> 00:11:21.409 or the golden arches. It is. But here is the 00:11:21.409 --> 00:11:24.389 aha moment from our research. The first time 00:11:24.389 --> 00:11:27.639 that emblem appeared. It wasn't on a men's polo 00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:29.720 shirt. Wait, really? I assumed it started on 00:11:29.720 --> 00:11:32.679 the chest of the men's mesh shirt. No. It was 00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:36.980 1971. He introduced a line of tailored shirts 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:40.539 for women, menswear -inspired shirts for women. 00:11:41.100 --> 00:11:43.860 And that is where the polo player emblem made 00:11:43.860 --> 00:11:46.879 its debut, right there on the cuff of the women's 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:49.100 shirt. That is fascinating. So the symbol of 00:11:49.100 --> 00:11:51.480 masculine sport actually debuted in womenswear. 00:11:51.659 --> 00:11:54.929 It did. And the famous mesh... Polo shirt. Yeah. 00:11:54.990 --> 00:11:56.830 The one that is in everyone's closet. That came 00:11:56.830 --> 00:11:59.889 a year later in 1972. The signature cotton mesh 00:11:59.889 --> 00:12:02.730 polo shirt. Okay. And this is where his marketing 00:12:02.730 --> 00:12:04.529 genius really went into overdrive. He didn't 00:12:04.529 --> 00:12:07.169 just put out a shirt. He launched it with a campaign 00:12:07.169 --> 00:12:10.250 that had a tagline. Every team has its color. 00:12:10.889 --> 00:12:13.950 Polo has 17. Every team has its color. That is 00:12:13.950 --> 00:12:15.889 so clever. It implies you are part of a team 00:12:15.889 --> 00:12:18.269 just by wearing it. Exactly. It implies belonging. 00:12:18.690 --> 00:12:21.230 It's tribalism. I wasn't selling a garment. He 00:12:21.230 --> 00:12:23.480 was selling membership. It cemented the shirt 00:12:23.480 --> 00:12:26.500 as the emblem of the preppy look. It democratized 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:28.580 the country club aesthetic. You didn't need a 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:30.460 membership to the club. You just needed the $20 00:12:30.460 --> 00:12:33.320 shirt. And then Hollywood came calling. And this 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.559 really supercharged the brand's visibility. It 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:39.980 took it from fashion to culture. The 1970s were 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:42.139 the decade where Ralph Lauren became the costume 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:44.879 designer for the American imagination. First, 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:47.860 you have The Great Gatsby in 1974. The Robert 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:50.039 Redford movie, which makes total sense. It makes 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:52.860 perfect sense. Ralph Lauren outfitted the male 00:12:52.860 --> 00:12:56.120 cast, and specifically, he designed a pink suit 00:12:56.120 --> 00:12:59.159 for Robert Redford's Jay Gatsby. The pink suit, 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:01.259 of course. Now, let's pause and look at the meta 00:13:01.259 --> 00:13:03.659 -narrative here. Jay Gatsby is a character who 00:13:03.659 --> 00:13:05.940 reinvented himself, who changed his name, who 00:13:05.940 --> 00:13:08.879 built a luxurious world to cover up humble beginnings 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:12.370 to win over the girl and the society. It is almost 00:13:12.370 --> 00:13:14.889 autobiographical. Ralph Lauren is Jay Gatsby. 00:13:15.029 --> 00:13:17.909 The parallels are impossible to ignore. A poor 00:13:17.909 --> 00:13:19.789 boy who changes his name and builds a castle. 00:13:19.909 --> 00:13:22.610 That's the story. And by dressing Redford in 00:13:22.610 --> 00:13:24.750 that movie, Lauren wasn't just doing a job. He 00:13:24.750 --> 00:13:26.909 was solidifying the visual language of his own 00:13:26.909 --> 00:13:30.210 brand. He was saying, this 1920s grandeur, this 00:13:30.210 --> 00:13:32.669 belongs to me now. And then a totally different 00:13:32.669 --> 00:13:35.210 vibe, but equally influential. Annie Hall in 00:13:35.210 --> 00:13:39.350 1977. Yes. Diane Keaton and Woody Allen wearing 00:13:39.350 --> 00:13:42.769 Lauren's clothes. But specifically Diane Keaton. 00:13:42.950 --> 00:13:45.330 That look, the menswear inspired womenswear, 00:13:45.509 --> 00:13:48.070 the ties, the vests, the baggy trousers, the 00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:50.750 fedora. Iconic. That became iconic. It influenced 00:13:50.750 --> 00:13:53.309 an entire generation of how women dressed. And 00:13:53.309 --> 00:13:55.750 it was all Ralph. He showed that women could 00:13:55.750 --> 00:13:58.269 look powerful and sexy in men's clothes. So he 00:13:58.269 --> 00:14:00.549 conquers menswear, he conquers womenswear, he 00:14:00.549 --> 00:14:04.450 conquers Hollywood. What is left to conquer the 00:14:04.450 --> 00:14:07.590 invisible? Fragrance. And again, he breaks the 00:14:07.590 --> 00:14:10.509 mold here. In 1978, he launches his fragrances. 00:14:10.830 --> 00:14:12.690 But he doesn't just do a women's perfume and 00:14:12.690 --> 00:14:14.649 wait to see if it sells. What does he do? He 00:14:14.649 --> 00:14:16.610 launches a men's cologne and a women's perfume 00:14:16.610 --> 00:14:19.159 simultaneously. Polo for men in the green bottle 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:21.299 and Lauren for women in the red cube. Correct. 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:24.039 And the source material points out that this 00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:26.019 was the first time a designer had ever introduced 00:14:26.019 --> 00:14:29.220 two fragrances at once. It reinforced this idea 00:14:29.220 --> 00:14:31.460 that Ralph Lauren wasn't just a brand for him 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:34.720 or for her. It was a world for us. It was a complete 00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:36.960 lifestyle. You could look like him and now you 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:39.450 could smell like him. And that world just kept 00:14:39.450 --> 00:14:42.389 getting bigger and more physical. We talked about 00:14:42.389 --> 00:14:45.110 the Rodeo Drive store, but in the 80s, he really 00:14:45.110 --> 00:14:47.370 leveled up with the Rhinelander Mansion. 1986, 00:14:47.950 --> 00:14:51.889 Madison Avenue and 72nd Street. This wasn't just 00:14:51.889 --> 00:14:54.289 a store innovation. He bought this old, incredible 00:14:54.289 --> 00:14:57.190 mansion. And working with a young design consultant 00:14:57.190 --> 00:15:00.190 named Naomi Leff, he didn't modernize it. He 00:15:00.190 --> 00:15:03.389 went back in time. He recreated the building's 00:15:03.389 --> 00:15:06.090 original opulence mahogany staircases, velvet 00:15:06.090 --> 00:15:09.009 drapes, oil paintings. It is an incredible space. 00:15:09.090 --> 00:15:10.950 If you have ever walked in there, it doesn't 00:15:10.950 --> 00:15:13.090 feel like a retail store. It feels like you are 00:15:13.090 --> 00:15:15.549 trespassing in someone's private, very wealthy 00:15:15.549 --> 00:15:17.809 home. And that was the point. He was awarded 00:15:17.809 --> 00:15:21.409 Retailer of the Year by the CFDA in 1986 specifically 00:15:21.409 --> 00:15:24.470 for this, for transforming the cinematic feel 00:15:24.470 --> 00:15:26.490 of his clothing into a physical environment. 00:15:27.060 --> 00:15:29.639 He understood that retail is theater. It's pure 00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:31.820 theater. When you buy a shirt there, you aren't 00:15:31.820 --> 00:15:33.679 just buying cotton. You are buying a souvenir 00:15:33.679 --> 00:15:35.720 from the play. He also took this show on the 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:38.919 road, international expansion. Huge. 1981, he 00:15:38.919 --> 00:15:41.340 opens on New Bond Street in London, the first 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:43.480 freestanding store for an American designer in 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:45.980 the West End. Right. And think about the audacity 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:50.639 of that. He is taking this American vision. which 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:52.700 is heavily borrowed from the British gentry, 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:55.100 and he is selling it back to the British. That 00:15:55.100 --> 00:15:57.539 is a great point. He's selling the British look 00:15:57.539 --> 00:16:00.019 to the British, but with an American twist. And 00:16:00.019 --> 00:16:02.919 it worked because he sold them the fantasy version 00:16:02.919 --> 00:16:05.019 of themselves. Yeah. The version with better 00:16:05.019 --> 00:16:06.419 teeth and better lighting. And then he moved 00:16:06.419 --> 00:16:08.379 into hospitality because if you wear the clothes, 00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:10.120 you need a place to be seen in them. Exactly. 00:16:10.590 --> 00:16:13.750 RL Restaurant in Chicago opened in 1999, then 00:16:13.750 --> 00:16:17.289 Ralph's in Paris in 2010, and the Polo Bar in 00:16:17.289 --> 00:16:20.529 New York in 2015. The Polo Bar is notoriously 00:16:20.529 --> 00:16:23.289 hard to get a reservation at, even today. And 00:16:23.289 --> 00:16:25.529 that's by design. It creates that exclusivity. 00:16:25.549 --> 00:16:27.509 It completes the circle. You dress in Ralph Lauren, 00:16:27.669 --> 00:16:29.230 you eat at Ralph Lauren, you live in Ralph Lauren. 00:16:29.409 --> 00:16:32.090 And purely on a business level, the company grew 00:16:32.090 --> 00:16:35.370 into a behemoth. It did. They went public on 00:16:35.370 --> 00:16:38.269 the New York Stock Exchange on June 12, 1997. 00:16:39.149 --> 00:16:41.509 and the brand diversification was relentless. 00:16:41.909 --> 00:16:44.250 So what did it look like? You had Polo Sport 00:16:44.250 --> 00:16:47.169 in 1992, tapping into the activewear market before 00:16:47.169 --> 00:16:51.090 it was cool. Purple Label in 1995, which was 00:16:51.090 --> 00:16:53.129 his answer to Italian luxury, the ultra high 00:16:53.129 --> 00:16:57.350 -end stuff. Ralph Lauren in 1996 for the department 00:16:57.350 --> 00:16:59.110 store market. And they were early to the internet 00:16:59.110 --> 00:17:01.429 too, right? Surprisingly so. They launched Polo 00:17:01.429 --> 00:17:04.390 .com in 2000. Originally, it was a joint venture 00:17:04.390 --> 00:17:07.319 with NBC called RL Media. which is an interesting 00:17:07.319 --> 00:17:09.519 little historical footnote. Barrel Media. Yeah, 00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:11.299 he understood that media and commerce were merging. 00:17:12.059 --> 00:17:15.680 Later, in 2007, Ralph Lauren acquired the NBC 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:18.400 share and relaunched it as RalphLauren .com. 00:17:18.579 --> 00:17:21.359 And we can't skip the massive JCPenney deal. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:23.240 This one always fascinated me because it seems 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:25.559 like a risk to the luxury image. American Living, 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:28.880 launched in 2008. This was a massive cross -category 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:31.559 launch exclusively for JCPenney. And yes, it 00:17:31.559 --> 00:17:34.119 was a risk. This is the Mastige strategy, mass 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:36.680 prestige. He showed that while he had the purple 00:17:36.680 --> 00:17:38.839 label for the elite, he never lost sight of the 00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:40.940 mass market. He wanted everyone to have a piece 00:17:40.940 --> 00:17:43.059 of the dream. He understood that you can sell 00:17:43.059 --> 00:17:45.640 a $5 ,000 suit and a $50 towel as long as the 00:17:45.640 --> 00:17:47.559 story connecting them remains consistent. Fast 00:17:47.559 --> 00:17:50.980 forward to 2018, the 50th anniversary. A spectacle. 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:53.500 Yeah. Held at Bethesda Terrace in Central Park. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.779 The guest list was a who's who of American culture. 00:17:57.369 --> 00:18:01.170 Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Kanye West, Robert 00:18:01.170 --> 00:18:04.450 De Niro. It was a coronation, really. Wow. It 00:18:04.450 --> 00:18:07.069 was the culture bowing down to the creator. Okay, 00:18:07.130 --> 00:18:09.490 so we have established the empire. We see the 00:18:09.490 --> 00:18:13.329 stores, the ads, the billions. But let's look 00:18:13.329 --> 00:18:15.839 at the man living inside it. We know he came 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:18.119 from humble beginnings, but what about his personal 00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:21.180 life? How does the man himself navigate this 00:18:21.180 --> 00:18:23.339 world he built? Well, in an industry known for 00:18:23.339 --> 00:18:26.079 volatility and short -lived relationships, consistency 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:29.299 is the key word here. He married Ricky -Ann Loebier 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:32.589 on December 20th, 1964. They have been married 00:18:32.589 --> 00:18:35.289 for over 60 years. That is where in general, 00:18:35.390 --> 00:18:37.450 but in the fashion world, that is basically a 00:18:37.450 --> 00:18:39.670 statistical anomaly. It is. And the meet cute 00:18:39.670 --> 00:18:42.769 story is charmingly normal. They met in a doctor's 00:18:42.769 --> 00:18:44.710 office. That's doctor's office. Yeah. She was 00:18:44.710 --> 00:18:46.930 working as a receptionist. And on alternate days, 00:18:46.990 --> 00:18:49.059 she was teaching dance. And Ricky isn't just 00:18:49.059 --> 00:18:51.440 in the background. She is an author. She is his 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.420 muse. The Ricky bag is one of their most famous 00:18:53.420 --> 00:18:56.119 products. Absolutely. She wrote The Hamptons, 00:18:56.180 --> 00:18:58.599 Food, Family and History. They have three children, 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:01.819 Andrew, David and Dylan. Dylan Lauren, the candy 00:19:01.819 --> 00:19:03.839 mogul. That's right. Dylan's candy bar. Yeah. 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:06.380 She took her father's retail genius and applied 00:19:06.380 --> 00:19:09.220 it to sugar. And David Lauren is heavily involved 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:11.339 in the company, leading the innovation and marketing. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:14.000 Right. And there is a fascinating political connection 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:18.619 there, too. In 2011. David married Lauren Bush. 00:19:18.819 --> 00:19:22.079 The niece of President George W. Bush. Yes. So 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:24.319 pause on that for a second. You have the son 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:27.400 of the Bronx immigrant fashion designer marrying 00:19:27.400 --> 00:19:29.559 the niece of a president and granddaughter of 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:31.440 another president. It's incredible. It is the 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:33.539 quintessential American merging of families. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:36.180 It's the final step of that assimilation journey 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:38.079 we talked about at the beginning. The Lifshitz 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.619 family and the Bush family are now one tree. 00:19:41.789 --> 00:19:44.609 Despite all the success, it hasn't been entirely 00:19:44.609 --> 00:19:47.569 smooth sailing. In the late 80s, there was a 00:19:47.569 --> 00:19:49.869 significant health scare that I think shaped 00:19:49.869 --> 00:19:53.349 his perspective on legacy. April 1987, Ralph 00:19:53.349 --> 00:19:55.470 Lauren underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. 00:19:55.769 --> 00:19:59.450 Wow, that stops you in your tracks. It was benign, 00:19:59.450 --> 00:20:02.250 and he made a full recovery. But for a man building 00:20:02.250 --> 00:20:05.069 an empire, that has to be a moment of reckoning. 00:20:05.339 --> 00:20:08.039 When you face your own mortality, you stop thinking 00:20:08.039 --> 00:20:10.839 about next season's collection and start thinking 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:13.680 about what you leave behind. It humanizes him. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.660 He isn't invincible. And while the marriage has 00:20:16.660 --> 00:20:19.000 been long and stable, the source material does 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:21.420 mention some controversy in the 90s. We should 00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:23.339 address that because it speaks to how the brand 00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:26.099 manages its image. Yes, we have to be thorough. 00:20:26.649 --> 00:20:30.109 In the early 1990s, there were reports of an 00:20:30.109 --> 00:20:32.809 extramarital affair with a model named Kim Nye, 00:20:32.990 --> 00:20:35.670 who was actually featured in the Safari Fragrance 00:20:35.670 --> 00:20:38.210 campaign. And how did Loren handle that? Well, 00:20:38.269 --> 00:20:40.289 reports say he sought to remove these details 00:20:40.289 --> 00:20:42.869 from biographies. He wanted to protect the image, 00:20:43.009 --> 00:20:45.150 both his personal image and the brand's image. 00:20:45.329 --> 00:20:47.109 Because remember, the brand is family values. 00:20:47.269 --> 00:20:49.349 Right. The brand is the happy couple on the lawn. 00:20:49.730 --> 00:20:51.890 A scandal like that threatens the core narrative. 00:20:52.250 --> 00:20:53.809 But these things tend to come out, and it was 00:20:53.809 --> 00:20:56.430 documented in unauthorized biographies later 00:20:56.430 --> 00:20:59.430 on, like Genuine Authentic by Michael Gross. 00:20:59.650 --> 00:21:02.230 It reminds us that behind the polished ad campaigns, 00:21:02.490 --> 00:21:05.029 these are real people with real complications. 00:21:05.529 --> 00:21:08.049 Exactly. But let's talk about where he spends 00:21:08.049 --> 00:21:10.269 his time and his money, because his real estate 00:21:10.269 --> 00:21:13.609 portfolio is just as curated as his stores. Oh, 00:21:13.630 --> 00:21:15.329 I have seen photos of the ranch. It looks like 00:21:15.329 --> 00:21:18.450 a John Wayne movie set. The Double RL Ranch in 00:21:18.450 --> 00:21:23.440 Ridgeway, Colorado. 17 ,000 acres. 17 ,000. It 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:26.640 is a working cattle ranch, but it is also the 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:28.819 physical embodiment of his Western aesthetic. 00:21:29.039 --> 00:21:31.119 He didn't just buy a house in the mountains. 00:21:31.180 --> 00:21:33.740 He bought the mountains. And then he has a 17 00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:36.670 ,000 square foot manor. in Bedford, New York. 00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:38.829 But for me, and I know for a lot of our listeners 00:21:38.829 --> 00:21:41.529 who are into design and engineering, the real 00:21:41.529 --> 00:21:44.430 jaw -dropper is the cars. The car collection. 00:21:44.509 --> 00:21:47.470 This isn't just a rich guy buying Ferraris. This 00:21:47.470 --> 00:21:50.450 is a curated archive of industrial design. We 00:21:50.450 --> 00:21:52.690 are talking about 100 automobiles. And these 00:21:52.690 --> 00:21:54.529 aren't just nice cars. These are museum pieces. 00:21:54.910 --> 00:21:57.069 Quite literally. His collection has been displayed 00:21:57.069 --> 00:21:59.789 at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts and the Musée 00:21:59.789 --> 00:22:02.759 des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. When a museum asks 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:04.920 to borrow your garage contents, you know you're 00:22:04.920 --> 00:22:07.000 on another level. Let's list a few of the crown 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:09.000 jewels mentioned in the source, because the names 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:11.339 alone sound expensive. I want you to describe 00:22:11.339 --> 00:22:14.059 them for us. Okay, buckle up. First, the 1938 00:22:14.059 --> 00:22:18.390 Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic. That is the black 00:22:18.390 --> 00:22:20.250 one with the riveted spine running down the middle, 00:22:20.329 --> 00:22:22.349 right? It looks like something Batman would drive 00:22:22.349 --> 00:22:25.329 if Batman lived in 1938 Paris. That is the one. 00:22:25.430 --> 00:22:28.130 It won Best of Show at Pebble Beach in 1990. 00:22:28.490 --> 00:22:30.009 There are only a couple of them in the world. 00:22:30.210 --> 00:22:32.390 It is considered one of the most valuable cars 00:22:32.390 --> 00:22:35.329 in existence. Estimates often float around $40 00:22:35.329 --> 00:22:38.150 million or more. $40 million for one car. It's 00:22:38.150 --> 00:22:41.690 Art Deco Speed. What else? A 1930 Mercedes -Benz 00:22:41.690 --> 00:22:44.970 SSK Count Trasi, also a Pebble Beach winner. 00:22:45.390 --> 00:22:49.210 This car is a beast. It's black, sinister, incredibly 00:22:49.210 --> 00:22:51.910 long hood. It looks like a villain's car in the 00:22:51.910 --> 00:22:55.809 best way possible. Then a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, 00:22:56.130 --> 00:22:58.690 the holy grail of Ferraris. And he has modern 00:22:58.690 --> 00:23:02.349 stuff, too. Oh, yes. Three 1996 McLaren F1s. 00:23:02.349 --> 00:23:04.769 And note that he has three. Three of them. The 00:23:04.769 --> 00:23:06.670 McLaren F1 was the fastest car in the world for 00:23:06.670 --> 00:23:09.450 a long time. He has an ultra -rare LM model and 00:23:09.450 --> 00:23:11.990 a Lamborghini Rivington Roadster. And in 2017, 00:23:12.190 --> 00:23:15.269 he actually used the cars as the backdrop for 00:23:15.269 --> 00:23:17.880 a fashion show, right? He did. New York Fashion 00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:20.279 Week. What? He held the show in his garage in 00:23:20.279 --> 00:23:24.700 Bedford. And the context here is wild. The collection 00:23:24.700 --> 00:23:27.559 surrounding the runway was valued at $600 million. 00:23:28.079 --> 00:23:30.900 $600 million just sitting in the garage while 00:23:30.900 --> 00:23:32.980 models walk by. But again, look at it through 00:23:32.980 --> 00:23:35.299 the lens of the brand. These cars represent speed, 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:39.359 style, beauty, engineering. They are the ultimate 00:23:39.359 --> 00:23:42.500 accessories to the lifestyle he sells. He is 00:23:42.500 --> 00:23:45.079 saying, my clothes belong next to this Bugatti. 00:23:45.690 --> 00:23:48.470 It elevates the clothing by association. Now, 00:23:48.529 --> 00:23:50.130 we have talked about what he has accumulated. 00:23:50.410 --> 00:23:52.730 Let's talk about what he is giving back. Because 00:23:52.730 --> 00:23:55.410 his philanthropy is significant, particularly 00:23:55.410 --> 00:23:58.730 in one specific area. Cancer research. This is 00:23:58.730 --> 00:24:00.890 a major pillar of his legacy, and it started 00:24:00.890 --> 00:24:04.029 with a personal connection. In 1989, he co -founded 00:24:04.029 --> 00:24:06.069 the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research 00:24:06.069 --> 00:24:08.670 at Georgetown. Okay. Nina Hyde was a fashion 00:24:08.670 --> 00:24:10.609 correspondent and a close friend of his. When 00:24:10.609 --> 00:24:12.789 she got sick, he didn't just send flowers. He 00:24:12.789 --> 00:24:14.900 started a center. And that led to the Pink Pony 00:24:14.900 --> 00:24:18.140 campaign. Right. Launched in 2000. You've probably 00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:20.980 seen the shirts. The polo player is pink. The 00:24:20.980 --> 00:24:23.339 Pink Pony campaign is about reducing disparities 00:24:23.339 --> 00:24:27.400 in cancer care. It focuses on awareness, prevention, 00:24:27.700 --> 00:24:30.559 and treatment, especially in underserved communities. 00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:32.859 He also did a lot of work right in New York City. 00:24:33.059 --> 00:24:36.519 In Harlem. In 2003, he established the Ralph 00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:38.480 Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:41.700 It was a collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering 00:24:41.700 --> 00:24:44.940 and North General Hospital. This was about bringing 00:24:44.940 --> 00:24:47.640 world -class care to a neighborhood that was 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:49.680 historically underserved. And internationally, 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:52.339 too. Yes. He partnered with the Royal Marsden 00:24:52.339 --> 00:24:55.440 in Europe to fund a breast cancer research facility. 00:24:55.819 --> 00:24:58.559 And the source mentions this was inspired by 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:00.460 his friendship with Princess Diana. I didn't 00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:02.420 know they were friends. They were. She presented 00:25:02.420 --> 00:25:04.619 him with the Nina Hyde Center's first humanitarian 00:25:04.619 --> 00:25:08.119 award in 1996. So there was a genuine connection 00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:11.019 there. It fits the brand perfectly, royalty and 00:25:11.019 --> 00:25:13.039 philanthropy. Now, earlier you teased the... 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:15.180 story about the Star Spangled Banner, this is 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:16.980 one of my favorite facts about him because it 00:25:16.980 --> 00:25:19.039 circles back to that patriotism we talked about. 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:21.740 It is a great story of patriotism meeting preservation. 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:26.039 In 1998, Ralph Lauren contributed $10 million 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:29.200 to the Save America's Treasures campaign. And 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:31.359 what was that money for? It was specifically 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:35.039 to preserve the original 1813 flag. The actual 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:38.160 physical tattered flag that flew over Fort McHenry 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:40.900 and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the national 00:25:40.900 --> 00:25:43.299 anthem. That is incredible. The literal star 00:25:43.299 --> 00:25:45.940 -spangled banner. It was deteriorating. It was 00:25:45.940 --> 00:25:48.359 falling apart. It needed massive, expensive conservation 00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:51.279 work to save it for future generations. And Ralph 00:25:51.279 --> 00:25:54.039 Lauren stepped up to fit the bill. There is something 00:25:54.039 --> 00:25:57.569 so poetic about that. The son of immigrants who 00:25:57.569 --> 00:26:00.549 changed his name to sound American ends up being 00:26:00.549 --> 00:26:03.569 the one to save the most potent symbol of America. 00:26:03.710 --> 00:26:05.710 It's the ultimate thank you to the country that 00:26:05.710 --> 00:26:08.009 allowed him to invent himself. He's preserving 00:26:08.009 --> 00:26:10.089 the symbol of the dream. He also helped out the 00:26:10.089 --> 00:26:12.529 French, right? He did. In 2013, he committed 00:26:12.529 --> 00:26:14.630 to restoring the École des Beaux -Arts in Paris. 00:26:14.950 --> 00:26:17.450 So he is preserving culture on both sides of 00:26:17.450 --> 00:26:19.789 the Atlantic. He sees himself as a custodian 00:26:19.789 --> 00:26:22.250 of Western civilization's aesthetics. And the 00:26:22.250 --> 00:26:24.250 world has certainly recognized him for all of 00:26:24.250 --> 00:26:26.910 this. The list of awards in the source material 00:26:26.910 --> 00:26:30.470 is exhausting. It is a mile long. Cody Awards 00:26:30.470 --> 00:26:33.930 in the 70s. The CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award 00:26:33.930 --> 00:26:38.369 in 1992. Presented by Audrey Hepburn, no less. 00:26:38.589 --> 00:26:41.190 That is some serious star power. Audrey Hepburn 00:26:41.190 --> 00:26:43.849 is the ultimate seal of approval for elegance. 00:26:44.069 --> 00:26:46.029 He was made an honorary knight commander of the 00:26:46.029 --> 00:26:49.130 Order of the British Empire, a KBE, in 2017. 00:26:49.650 --> 00:26:51.670 Prince Charles presented that to him. So he's 00:26:51.670 --> 00:26:54.049 Sir Ralph. So he is technically an honorary knight. 00:26:54.529 --> 00:26:57.069 Honorary Sir Ralph. Honorary Sir Ralph. I like 00:26:57.069 --> 00:26:59.049 it. And then, as we mentioned at the very top, 00:26:59.250 --> 00:27:03.390 the pinnacle. January 4th, 2025. The Presidential 00:27:03.390 --> 00:27:05.690 Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden. The 00:27:05.690 --> 00:27:07.829 first fashion designer to ever receive it. It 00:27:07.829 --> 00:27:09.930 really cements his place in history. Not just 00:27:09.930 --> 00:27:12.410 fashion history, but American history. It acknowledges 00:27:12.410 --> 00:27:14.329 that what he built wasn't just a clothing company. 00:27:14.430 --> 00:27:16.369 It was a contribution to the national identity. 00:27:16.890 --> 00:27:19.109 So let's try to synthesize all of this. We have 00:27:19.109 --> 00:27:21.690 gone from the Bronx to Buckingham Palace, from 00:27:21.690 --> 00:27:23.670 a drawer in the Empire State Building to the 00:27:23.670 --> 00:27:25.869 White House. It is an extraordinary journey. 00:27:26.109 --> 00:27:28.430 And it is worth noting that while he is still 00:27:28.430 --> 00:27:31.029 very much the face and soul of the brand, he 00:27:31.029 --> 00:27:34.430 has transitioned his role. He stepped down as 00:27:34.430 --> 00:27:37.589 CEO in 2015, handing the reins to Stefan Larson 00:27:37.589 --> 00:27:39.710 initially, though that was a rocky transition. 00:27:40.359 --> 00:27:42.299 But he remains the executive chairman and chief 00:27:42.299 --> 00:27:44.559 creative officer. He's the guardian. He is still 00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:46.619 the guardian of the dream. So what does this 00:27:46.619 --> 00:27:48.579 all mean? When we look at the legacy of Ralph 00:27:48.579 --> 00:27:51.240 Lauren, what is the big takeaway? You know, it 00:27:51.240 --> 00:27:53.220 brings me back to that idea of self -invention. 00:27:53.619 --> 00:27:56.480 Ralph Lauren didn't just sell clothes. He sold 00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:58.779 a dream of American aristocracy to the world. 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:02.319 And the irony, or perhaps the beauty, is that 00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:04.920 he started with nothing. He wasn't born into 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:07.039 the polo playing class. He created the class. 00:28:07.299 --> 00:28:09.859 In a way, yes. In a world where fashion trends 00:28:09.859 --> 00:28:12.339 change weekly, where things are in one day and 00:28:12.339 --> 00:28:15.420 out the next, how did a brand built on 1920s 00:28:15.420 --> 00:28:18.220 nostalgia and English gentry aesthetics manage 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:20.799 to stay relevant for over 50 years? That is the 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:22.960 question. Perhaps the most American thing about 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:25.500 Ralph Lauren isn't the polo shirt or the flag 00:28:25.500 --> 00:28:28.000 sweaters or the denim. It is the self -invention 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:31.059 of the man himself. He looked in the mirror. 00:28:31.420 --> 00:28:33.779 didn't see Ralph Lipschitz, and decided to become 00:28:33.779 --> 00:28:37.019 someone else. And he did it so convincingly with 00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:40.000 such commitment to detail and quality that the 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:42.880 whole world believed him. And eventually, the 00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:44.920 world didn't just believe him. They gave him 00:28:44.920 --> 00:28:46.859 a knighthood and the Medal of Freedom for it. 00:28:47.079 --> 00:28:49.259 That is a powerful thought to leave us with. 00:28:49.339 --> 00:28:51.640 The ultimate American invention was Ralph Lauren 00:28:51.640 --> 00:28:54.660 himself. Indeed. Thank you all for joining us 00:28:54.660 --> 00:28:56.960 on this deep dive. We will catch you on the next 00:28:56.960 --> 00:28:57.140 one.