The big picture
What Lauren feels the fashion community now understands is that his design point of view is not about a particular dress or a specific moment in fashion. It is about the big picture. Other designers keep up with trends and silhouettes, whereas Lauren says he concentrates on lifestyles. The clothes are merely part of what`s going on, not the center of it.
In fact, when Lauren describes his design process, he sounds more like he`s directing a motion picture.
”It begins with a world, a lifestyle. `All right, who is this girl?` I ask my design team. `What does she look like? Where is she going? What kind of mood is she in? Who is with her?”`
The situations Lauren creates may be based on real life, but he then sets about achieving the ”ultimate dream-nothing far-fetched-just absolutely the best reality imaginable.
”I`ve always said that I do what I am. I`m a happy guy, with the same dreams that everyone else has. I`m living life and going forward, right alongside my customer, always asking, `Where are we going now?` ”
It`s a wonderful life
Arguably, Lauren is living the ultimate American dream. Married for 28 years, Lauren and his wife, Ricky, have three children: Andrew, 22, a theater student; David, 20, a college student and a daughter, Dylan, 17.
The Laurens have three New York homes: one on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, a summer home on Long Island and a recently renovated estate in Westchester. For getting away, which the family does frequently, there`s the 29-acre home in Jamaica, where they take winter weekend jaunts and the Double R working ranch in Colorado, where they sneak off to in the summer.
But Lauren doesn`t stick to just his home turfs for inspiration. His design influences have traveled from Africa, England, France, Sante Fe, Eastern prep schools to most recently, America`s Cup.
”They`re all places I`d like to go, to be a part of. Each one conjures up a fantasy about playing a role,” explains Lauren. ”A safari is mystical and romantic. Prep schools mean being part of a classical tradition, an old world charm. When you think of English style, you think old tweeds, timeless furniture. And the West is America, it`s about a culture that never dies.”
Interestingly, he sees similarities of his inspirational worlds, not the differences. ”In my mind, the cowboy is a lot like the Englishman. He`s doing something he loves and all the while his style gets a little weathered, his saddles a little older, and the jeans fade. He takes on a quality I`ve always admired. It`s a natural, unfashiony weathering.”
Driven by passion
Clearly, Lauren is a romantic. He tells stories laced with descriptive images, not just words. He has an uncanny ability to place himself inside a situation, even one he has never directly experienced and describe the details right down to the smell, the colors and the energy in the air.
Passion underlies everything Lauren says, whether he`s describing how fabulous a woman looks in a tuxedo or the pressure of staging a fashion show
(to Lauren, a necessary evil). He hates, he loves, he can`t stand, he greatly admires, he must have.
”I love what I do,” says the designer, though he wearily admits that the sheer size of his operation can distract from the creative process. ”But once I get into a design meeting and it begins to roll, it becomes an exciting high. One thing leads to another and I remember why I do what I do.”
Lauren`s business developments coincided with his personal developments. Whenever a need presented itself in his life, a new division was started. When his wife, Ricky, needed clothes, he went into women`s wear. Then it was a matter of dressing his kids, then came furnishing his home.
”Everything I do has a personal reference, a personal sensibility,” he explains. ”Even my store. Though it was a business decision, it came about because I thought about shopping and just how great it could be. I had to make it happen.”
Support and control
Lauren credits his business and design teams, many of whom have been with him from the beginning, with allowing his concept to expand. ”When you`re surrounded by a supportive family, you have enough strength to talk it out and get things done,” says Lauren, whose design teams can number anywhere from 3 to 20. ”If you have an idea, they will see it through.”
However terrific his team is, the final product must pass through Lauren, who remains infamously in control. He approves every element of every item that bears his label, from the shade of blue of a polo shirt to the crest on a jacket.
”It`s hard because the economy is changing. Whatever I make has to be special,” says Lauren, adding that the days of showing a simple navy blazer or cable-knit twin sets are over. ”Ultimately, I keep the company going. While there may be a machine going on here, it`s a personal machine.”
Lauren says the ups and downs of business make him feel like a quarterback, trying to pass obstacles while being cheered along the way. ”I`m in so many different areas,” he observes, ”that someone will say `The fragrance is doing great, Ralph,` and another will say `Collection is weak this season,` and a third will point out that menswear is booming.”
So how does someone who began making men`s ties in 1967 become the head of an international conglomerate that in 1991 generated $3.1 billion in retail sales?
”There was no master plan,” says Lauren. But from the very beginning, there was always the need to put things in a larger context, to tell a complete story.
”I`ve always believed you need an environment to reach the consumer. I`m here (in New York) designing and some guy in Oklahoma is looking at one of my ties. How do I tell him my message? How do I reach him?”
Lauren remembers a series of battles at the very beginning to make sure his ties were in a showcase rather than on a rack. Soon his ties needed shirts, so there was a shirt and tie shop. Before long, he was designing menswear.
Wrong turns
When asked what mistakes he has made in his career, Lauren appears genuinely at a loss. ”I can`t think of them right now, or maybe I`d like to forget them,” he laughs. ”I don`t know, but whatever they were, I would do them all over again.”
Suddenly, he thinks of an example. ”I grew too fast at the very beginning of my business, which is why I licensed my women`s collection. I wished I didn`t have to, but it opened the door to a world of licensees, which allowed me to expand in a way I otherwise couldn`t.”
Just because Lauren is currently reflecting on his career, doesn`t mean he`s ready to call it a day. Says Lauren, ”My favorite part of the business is pioneering new concepts. It`s the process of taking things from beginning to end that I find exciting.” At present, there`s talk about publishing a magazine and of opening a resort or a spa.
”You always have to start over again,” he adds. ”You can`t sit back because, however good it is, the question is always `What`s next?` ”
When asked if his label has a future without him, the designer smiles.
”That`s a tough question because, of course, I would like to see it continue, but I would hate it to turn into a name about which someone says
`Hey, remember when that was wonderful?` ” Ideally, Lauren would love for one or all of his children to pick up the reins, but he feels it`s too early to predict what they will do.
One last look back
When asked if it seems like 25 years, he becomes quiet before responding. ”It`s hard to look back on all those years,” he says slowly, referring to a 6-minute video retrospective his company put together for the CFDA presentation. ”As much as I love pressure, it takes something out of you. I see how I changed in the photographs. I see my family, my kids, and all the things I`ve done. The struggles, the energy. It`s both beautiful and hard.”
But the timing of the CFDA honor could not have been better, says Lauren. ”When you think of a lifetime achievement award, you think of someone walking out with a cane. It`s nice to be at an age where I can really enjoy it.”
