Ralph Lauren is an American clothing designer who is known for his Polo brand. Ralph Lifshitz was born on October 14, 1939 to Frank and Freida, Russian immigrants. He grew up in the Bronx, New York. He was inspired by his father's artistic abilities as he watched him paint murals and houses. His father was no ordinary man and everything he did he added an artistic touch. He definitely passed this down to his son. Ralph attended a private Jewish school and later attended the public school of DeWitt Clinton. As soon as he attended this school he stood out. He always had a sense of fashion and people knew him for this. (Mattern 13-19) After a summer camp when Ralph was 16-years-old, he decided to change his last name from Lifshitz to Lauren. …show more content…
Ralph knew it was time to take the next step and design other items of clothing. Norman Hilton, a suit manufacturer, was very impressed by Lauren's sense of style. Hilton and Lauren became business partner and Lauren gave Hilton half ownership of his Polo company and Hilton gave Lauren financial support. With this new support, Lauren created the first Polo suits and showed them off. The suits looked amazing and got great reviews but Lauren did not have any technical skills. The suits looked great but were poorly made due to Lauren’s lack of technical skills. His business partner still believed in him and helped him get through this. In the Spring of 1969, Hilton took Lauren to Italy and this inspired him to finish his clothing line. This line featured jackets and suits. Unfortunately this line was a huge flop because men at that time did not want suits and jackets to fit in a casual way. In spite of these difficulties he had many good experiences during this time. In May of 1969, Lauren and his wife had their first child, a son they named Andrew. In 1970, he got good news from the fashion industry when he won the award for the best men’s wear designer and he was very honoured. Bloomingdale’s department store asked him to open his boutique in their store. The Ralph Lauren store opened on Bloomingdale’s main floor in 1971. This store was a huge success. 1971 was also a great year for Lauren when his second son, David, was born. (Mattern 41 -