King of cool again? How Ralph Lauren plans to regain crown
After a year of falling sales and internal turmoil, the grandfather of preppiness is ‘going back in time’ to rescue his luxury brand and regain its former glories
Back in the last century, Ralph Lauren built a business empire by sketching out a national fashion identity with each design.
In recent years though, the influence of his preppy styles has waned. Sales have fallen steadily as shoppers moved on to casual wear, fast-fashion or even upstart preppy brands.
Now, the 78-year-old designer is trying to make a comeback.
His latest CEO, Patrice Louvet, is helping to lead the charge to reclaim the prestige the brand once enjoyed.
We’re making encouraging progress across multiple fronts on product. But there’s still more work to do
The strategy is to go back in time. Products that aren’t key to that effort are getting culled, while core items are getting refreshed.
Old styles, labels and symbols are going to be resuscitated in a bid to restore the cachet that Ralph Lauren once enjoyed.
Bridget Weishaar, an analyst at Morningstar, praised the strategy – especially the decision to jettison some items.
In recent years, Ralph Lauren has pushed all sorts of different labels.
There’s Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren, Ralph by Ralph Lauren, Lauren Ralph Lauren, and Double RL.