1939-
Fashion Designer

Designing the American Look.

As the winner of more Coty American Fashion Critics' Awards than any other designer (three for men's clothes, three for women's), Ralph Lauren is considered by fashion observers to be the quintessential American designer of the 1970s. Lauren's designs were clean lined, adaptable, imaginative, and, at the same time, classic and contemporary. Lauren first gained attention in the late 1960s with his Polo menswear collections. In 1972 he introduced his first Ralph Lauren collection for women. "I stand for a look that is American," he explained in a 1978 interview. "It's an attitude, a sense of freedom. I believe in clothes that last, that are not dated in a season. They should look better the year after they're bought."

Life.

Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx, New York, on 14 October 1939, the youngest of four children. He and his...