Ralph Lauren Corporation owns more than one brand. The company produces its products under different lines, including Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren, Lauren, and many more. Although in all of the brands you can find an iconic graphical element, created for the fashion house decades ago, and turning into a symbol of style and quality in time.
Meaning and history
Ralph Lifshitz, the son of Jewish immigrants from the Soviet Union, was born in the Bronx in the United States. His family was quite poor, so even as a child, Ralph decided that he had to get rich. Classmates often teased him for his unsound last name. In 1955, Ralph changes his last name to a more Americanized – Lauren.
In the middle of the 1960s, he took a job with a tie company and came up with new designs. Ralph eventually opened his own business and chose the name Polo Ralph Lauren for it. He wanted to show a commitment to the lifestyle he admired from watching aristocrats in movies. Lauren thought that no one reflected luxury and elegance like a polo player.
To start his own company, Loren turned to his brother Jerry and Norman Hilton, a Manhattan clothing manufacturer, for support. Thus was born Polo Fashions, Inc.
Already in the 1970s, Loren began to be recognized in the fashion industry. He won three Coty awards for his costumes for the movie The Great Gatsby with Robert Redford. After that, the brand showed its logo in the form of a polo player and developed a women’s line. Its first men’s shirts, re-stitched for women, were a great success. The famous polo shirt, which became the Brand’s trademark, was released in 1972 in 24 colors.
What is Ralph Lauren?
Ralph Lauren is a luxury brand that specializes in creating clothing, accessories, perfumes, lingerie, furniture, housewares, textiles, and many more. The brand is known for its innovations and is one of the most iconic American fashion houses. It was under this brand that such types of clothing as polo shirts, men’s shirts in women’s versions, and wide ties were first released.
In terms of visual identity, Ralph Lauren is one of those brands, which prefer heritage and timelessness, and do not go into experiments and simplification. The logo of the brand has never been changed and is a reflection of the company’s history and philosophy.
The 1960s – Today
The iconic Ralph Lauren logo, introduced by the designer at the beginning of the 1960s, depicts a polo player on horseback, drawn in monochrome with thick distinctive lines. The idea behind the logo was that Polo is a game of aristocrats, the prerogative of people endowed not only with power but also with wealth and excellent taste. The logo, according to Ralph Lauren himself, should have caused the public to instantly associate it with luxury goods intended for the elite.
The graphical part of the badge is accompanied by elegant serif lettering in uppercase, which adds stability and strength to the composition, creating a full-fledged emblem and the face of the brand.
Font and color
The lettering on one of the most recognizable logos in the fashion world is set in the uppercase of a confident and stable serif typeface, which looks very similar to such fonts as ITC Fenice Pro Regular, or TT Nooks Regular.
As for the colors, used in the Ralph Lauren logo, they are very minimalistic — the primary version of the badge is set in black and white, but sometimes the gold or navy-blue shades can be added to the composition, depending on the placement.
