'Style is very personal. It has nothing do with fashion. Fashion is over very quickly. Style is forever,' are words this designer lives by.
Instead of creating fashion, Ralph Lauren (born in 1939) says, he makes movies with his clothes. Movies have been important for him since childhood, first as windows to the wider world and then as sources of inspiration.
In addition to film, Lauren gets ideas from his travels and the American countryside; through random meetings, and in fleeting pictures impressed on his mind.
Flashes of the world
Lauren's collections are always based on a young girl, a movie heroine. Lauren creates his story around this character and designs the clothes for her. In fact, she helps him assign a theme to the story and realise his design vision.
'Style is forever.' – Ralph Lauren
Lauren’s first step in designing a new collection is to imagine what the heroine is like and what she does. He then creates an entire world around her in his imagination.
'Every time I design clothes, I'm making a movie. I am writing a story,' he has said.
From ties to classic polo shirts
Lauren's own story, his life as a designer, started with ties as he advanced from sales representative to salesman at a shop specialising in ties. He designed his first ties for that shop in 1966, at 26 years of age – and was turned down.
Undeterred, Lauren opened his own tie shop the following year and later added his Polo-branded designs to the product range.
The first Polo boutique opened its doors in 1971 in Beverly Hills, on the famed Rodeo Drive.
Today the Polo brand often reminds people of Lauren's iconic Polo button-down shirts. Of course, these are available at Helsinki Airport's Polo Ralph Lauren shopwhere women’s and men's clothes are accompanied by sunglasses and other accessories.
Sources of information: Ralph Lauren, www.ralphlauren.com, www.wikipedia.org
Images: Ralph Lauren
Polo is the new symbol of personal expression for the modern woman. A romantic gamine with a cool sportiness, Polo mixes iconic all-American style with an eclectic downtown edge, all put together with individual flair. From urbane tweeds and simple black dresses to rugged outdoorsy looks and city-worn leather, Polo represents easy, energetic style-free-spirited and cool.
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