Becoming Exceptional: Ralph Lauren
On the other side of the spectrum, you have the creatives. $10.4B is a lot of money to make from clothes. I guess Ralph Lauren knows how to sell them.
Another rags to riches story, Ralph Lauren grew up wearing hand me downs. He was inspired by the movies, and fell in love with the fantasy of it all, imagining himself on a white horse. This dream of his soon became the dream he sold to the world - reimagining the self through image and appearance. The clothes he made, he admits he made for himself: preppy ambitious american or as he used to say: “A tweedy english american vibe with a french cut”. He recognized that clothes defined a person, because he used them to re-define himself.
The patience required of anyone going on their own independent venture always shocks me. In his early adult years, Ralph went to business college, and then enlisted into the military (completing his education by performing his studies at night). He then went on to become a salesman, most likely a move that he made to get closer to the life he wanted for himself: the life of high society. This is where Ralph got his first taste of the rich life, witnessing the dream he had on the streets around him. It was brought to life. Another pivotal moment to note here is that Ralph switched companies mid-career to strategically senable himself to design his apparel on his breaks (time). This is a moment of importance because it is the first example of Ralph putting his dream first, and removing blocks in its path.
I would say one of the defining inputs affecting Ralph’s extreme success, was this laser focused vision on this dream. Creating the dream for himself. Creating designs that allowed other people to “step into” the feeling as well. In the same way a star could put on a costume and become a completely new character, Ralph saw his life and his life’s work no differently. It was effortless for him to remain the path, because it was his truth. It’s what moved him. It was the story he chose to be in, and the role he wanted to play in it.
Now that was the emotional idea behind it all, the mission must be charged with pathos. Then comes the practical execution. He focuses on one thing at first: ties. One could assume ties were a cheap and simple style of clothing to get started with, and when just starting you always want simple and cheap. However, Ralph understood the importance of standing out. How to make people feel special through what they wear? Make it unique. He made big ties with a lot of bold colors - a new style for the time. Here we see the logical roadmap for execution: simple, cheap, and innovative. Not as sexy as the mission of selling a dream., but necessary to do when dealing in the competitive reality of the world.
Ralph was actually horrible when it came to operations, logistics, or sales. What he was good at was selling a feeling. Building an image in the mind of the consumer. The business operations? Sure that got him in trouble at various points in his business, but he always seemed to find tremendously talented people, in that specific department, to help him. When you follow your passion, It seems people are inspired by you and everyone conspires to help you carry out your vision. The only thing that matters then, is keeping the vision alive and strong. You do this with attention to detail, and creating momentum. Perfection, expansion, and constant improvement.
Ralph got his first retail deal with none other than Bloomingdales, however the real win here was that his ties would be branded with his own logo - not Bloomingdale’s. This was the start of his brand’s vision. However he carried it out expertly - when given space within the store for an entire collection, Lauren painted the walls and differentiated his space so his customer’s felt special, and associated it with his brand. Momentum begins snowballing. From ties to an entire women’s line, Ralph was careful to pay attention to every detail. He was known for being tirelessly specific and hard to please. Perfection, expansion, and constant improvement.
Even with his famous car collection, Ralph Lauren would change the color, adjust the leather interior. His life motto seemed to be, make it amazing, and then make it better, and then expand… 60 cars in his collection, and his brand posted on every luxury good imaginable, I think we can say he has a knack for momentum.
While Ralph honed in on the paint color of the walls, his company was growing too quickly and was on the brink of bankruptcy due to the lackluster operations and high overhead. The biggest mistake of Ralph Lauren’s career seemed to be forced on him: Goldman Sachs was taken on as an investor to solve this cash problem. Shares plummeted from $33 to $16. Why? The vision of the company is lost, when you hand it over to the cold, grimy hands of Wall Street. Ralph lost the momentum that he had built from his vision.
It was none other than a brand video featuring Ralph Laurne himself, that changed the hearts of the consumers. This is critical information, because once again we see the importance of the vision, Ralph’s specific vision.
The “brand” is merely the physical extension of Ralph Lauren himself. That’s what gives it life, that’s what gives it authenticity. It was connected to a beating heart. Ralph Lauren’s desire to BE something more, inspired him to DO more. He romanticised life, envisioning a beautiful storyline for himself. And he then shared that storyline with the rest of the world.
The lesson? Don’t sell out. Bet on yourself.
No matter what obstacles came in the way of him manifesting his dream, brain tumor, bankruptcy, he was able to move past it all because his sense of vision was so strong. He, like Elon, has no care for obstacles. He never let go of the vision. And so the universe conspired to make it happen. Now he lives his dream, having luxury homes across the globe, a beautiful family, a booming brand, and all the cars. No, truly, all of them.
Tie the vision to your own true, emotional desire. Never let it go. Use it to inspire people to bring your dream to life. Pay attention to the details, it should represent your vision. Stay the course and build on small wins. Expand, improve. Create more. Add value on top of everything you are given. And always ask, “How can I improve this?”
