Ralph Lauren Celebrates 50th Anniversary in Central Park

Montauker Ralph Lauren will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of his company at Bethesda Terrace in Central Park during New York Fashion Week. According to WWD, the fashion show and dinner, scheduled for September 7, will benefit the Central Park Conservancy, a private nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and maintaining the beloved park.

In 1967, the Ralph Lauren Corporation got off the ground by exclusively selling men’s ties. Then, in 1971, it launched a line of tailored shirts for women that featured the now famous polo player emblem. By 1977, it introduced its signature cotton mesh Polo shirt in various colors. Despite stepping down as CEO in 2015, Lauren remains a powerful voice in the company, as executive chairman and chief creative officer.

Central Park became the first public park in America when it was created in 1857, designed by the American architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and has become an iconic landmark for New York City. With its luscious greenery, many playgrounds, wildly popular zoo that’s been featured in the DreamWorks film Madagascar, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and American Museum of Natural History, this 2-mile-long park could be considered the most well-known park in the world.

Therefore, it’s only fitting that the historic park serves as the venue for the Ralph Lauren Corporation’s celebration of its humble origins, rapid expansion, evolution over five decades and everlasting impact on the fashion industry. In fact, Lauren seems quite fond of Central Park, celebrating the company’s 40th anniversary there as well, at the Conservatory Garden. Now 10 years later, he will use his half-century milestone, his victory lap if you will, to help preserve Central Park and all its cherished history.

As an additional commemoration of the anniversary, Rizzoli published a book in partnership with WWD, titled WWD: Fifty Years of Ralph Lauren, a 192-page anthology of stories, photos and illustrations from the publication’s data banks that span the company’s entire history.