history of a brand
Ralph Lauren
As the quintessential American brand turns 40 (and celebrates with the launch of a new book), we look at its most pivotal design moments
‘The reason I decided to enter home furnishing 40 years ago was because I had something to say. I knew I wanted to make as complete a statement for the home as I have in apparel,’ says Ralph Lauren who, in 1983, became the first fashion designer to jump with both feet into the world of homeware. This was, at the time, a revolutionary step. But Lauren was a man with a plan: ‘I designed products for the collection that I would like to own. Items that I, as a consumer, couldn’t find in the stores. Designing one sheet pattern or style isn’t making a statement in home furnishings. I don’t design a single blouse or a skirt, I design a point of view.’
That unique viewpoint is the subject of Ralph Lauren: A Way of Living (£55, Rizzoli), a new book that offers a deep dive into how the designer’s interiors ethos (reflected in his own homes, many of which are featured in its pages) has taken over the world. Here, we share some important steps on that journey…
1983
Ralph Lauren’s first Home collection is launched, and introduces four distinct styles that would become synonymous with the brand: ‘Log Cabin’, ‘New England’, ‘Thoroughbred’ (a celebration of aristocratic style and tradition) and ‘Jamaica’. Including everything from textiles and wallpapers to china, glassware and floorcoverings, this was a bold and confident debut.
1986
‘The Mansion’, the brand’s first flagship store, opens in New York, combining fashion and homeware beneath the roof of one impressive French Renaissance Revival-style building. ‘I have always wanted my own store to be in a home because it affords me the opportunity of expressing a total way of life in the most gracious manner possible,’ said Ralph Lauren at the time.
1992
Just when the world thinks it knows what to expect from a Ralph Lauren interior, the designer heads in an exciting, new and decidedly more modern direction with the launch of a modular furniture collection – the undisputed star of which was the blocky ‘RL2000’ armchair.
1995
Only the king of nostalgic Americana would launch a debut paint range with colour names that included ‘Picket Fence’ and ‘Golden Retriever’. Like so many of R
