Celebrating 50 Years and Writing the Next Great Chapter for Ralph Lauren

About a year ago, I had the privilege of joining the Ralph Lauren Corporation as its President and CEO. Fast forward 400-some-odd days and we are celebrating our iconic company’s 50th anniversary. Our recent show at Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace in New York City captured not only the beauty of the clothes that Ralph and our teams have created for the Fall season, but also Ralph Lauren’s undeniable cultural impact and influence on American fashion and beyond. 

There were many different elements of our 50th celebration – from our digital installations that created an immersive, cinematic experience of the World of Ralph Lauren, to the 170 models spanning generations (from Boomers to infants), genders and backgrounds. It made me appreciate the change that Ralph and the team have seen and inspired since 1967 – the same year Rolling Stone published its first magazine and the Beatles released “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” Fifty years later, Jay Z, another music icon, asked in a New York Times interview: “Do you want to be a trend, or do you want to be Ralph Lauren?”

What a journey. Now we are all focused on writing the Next Great Chapter in the Ralph Lauren story and laying the foundations for our next 50 years.

It starts by recognizing that we are not writing a new story – we have the privilege of continuing a great one.

At a time when there’s never been more competition in the industry and more pressure to change quickly and often, the question is, How do we continue to draw on our entrepreneurial roots – to lead, to take risks, to be a company that stands for far more than the products it creates?

The guiding “North Star” as we begin our Next Great Chapter has to be rooted in a purpose that defines who we are as a company and the impact we seek to make in the world.

Our purpose at Ralph Lauren is to inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style.

To those unfamiliar with our company, that may just sound like a nice phrase. But each and every word is deliberate, deeply rooted in our history and in our culture. Inspiring the dream of a better life is not about material status, but about a life filled with hope, possibility and a sense of realness that never goes out of style. Ralph’s own life, his sense of family, his values and penchant for quality that were so clearly captured at our celebration a couple weeks ago – they’re all at the heart of this.

This purpose is the touchstone – the why – that unifies our 24,000 employees, our millions of consumers, our shareholders, our partners and the communities we operate in around the world. It guides not only the products and experiences we create but also the social impact we look to have, whether that’s through our philanthropic work across cancer care through our Pink Pony Fund, our own working environments where we strive to provide all our employees with the opportunity to leverage their full potential, or through the way we select and work with our partners and suppliers globally.

Our purpose articulates why we do what we do, but obviously the how is important as well.

We call this “how” The Ralph Lauren Way: Love what you do, be passionate, work hard, work together, take risks, stay real, never compromise, aspire to the best. 

The Ralph Lauren Way is what built this company, and these values are enduring and will help carry us into the future.

Moving forward, we have coupled The Ralph Lauren Way with 5 Cultural Focus Areas for our teams around the world. We believe these behaviors are critical to win in today’s retail and business environments globally. They are:

• One team, one family, focused on the consumer
• Empowerment with personal accountability
• Straight talk 
• Focus on what matters most
• Move with urgency 

Together, our purpose, The Ralph Lauren Way and these behaviors are what influence and drive our culture at Ralph Lauren. We have a clear strategic framework in place to return the company to long-term, sustainable growth and value creation, but that plan is just a plan without the right people and culture to deliver with excellence. 

As I look back over this past year, I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to partner with Ralph and our teams around the world, and as I look ahead I’m optimistic. Our teams are talented and engaged, and we have the privilege and responsibility of continuing one of the most remarkable stories in American business and beyond. Ralph Lauren’s 50-year history has never been about a single concept or product, but rather what the brand stands for, the lifestyle and the possibilities it represents.

As Ralph wrote, “Our company is built not on what we did yesterday, or even today, but what we dream of for tomorrow.”