Ralph Lauren on Trump vs Hillary, coming up with the Polo name, the differences between menswear and womenswear and more

 

“It ain’t Ralph though”

Ralph Lauren is synonymous with perfect yet inclusive fashion. The iconic American designer recently turned up on the other side of the pond to open a cancer centre. While there, he granted an interview to the Times of London of which select quotes are presented below;

On Trump and Hillary

“I don’t know if he wears my clothes or not. He comes to my restaurant.”

“I like him. I know him personally. He’s a nice guy in person, you know. [But] I like Hillary a lot. I think she is very well equipped to do this job. It’s amazing how the world wants change in some way but you want the right people who really know their jobs to do good jobs.”

“Hillary is trained for it. She has done the job. She knows what’s going on. If there is anyone that’s equipped she is equipped and I think that’s what you want. You don’t want to find yourself in four wars all at once.”

“People are laughing about this guy. Meanwhile this guy is getting popularity from very reputable people. So who knows?”

On Supporting Cancer Charities

In 1987 Lauren was diagnosed with a brain tumour. It was removed and turned out to have been benign.

“But still, they opened up my head. I have scars here and here. I was very successful, everything was going great and this comes up. Still to this day when I see someone who has that I choke up. I really became aware of life and felt like I got off and I could help someone else get off.”

On coming up with the Polo name

“I like sports and I couldn’t call it baseball or basketball and I thought: ‘Polo.’ Although Americans didn’t know what polo was really, people who go to polo matches are stylish people. So I thought the name was really good and then I added my name.”

On the differences between designing for men and women

“Menswear is more subtle than womenswear. Men don’t want to be fashion freaks. They want to look good but they don’t live for fashion. Women are much more fickle. They don’t care what brand it is, they want it. Women are more adventuresome; they are more experimental with dresses and skirts and shapes.”

On being influenced by British style and his relationship with it

“I have always loved England because of the ‘non-fashion fashion’. English style was one of my inspirations because it was not about fashion. You wear a sweater when gardening and put a patch on it and it looks great.”

“When I first came to London I loved English clothes and I was shocked when I saw one time a lot of flashy clothes that didn’t look like England. England was trying to look like something else. Now England looks like England.”

Designing for Wimbledon

“Wimbledon is beautiful, it is traditional. I am a traditionalist. It’s not that I am backwards, it’s just that I love heritage, I love longevity. That’s been my philosophy, but you constantly update so that you look contemporary. You have to move with the times and update but understand that the past also has a wonderful sensibility. “