Fashion mogul Ralph Lauren keeps his image well groomed
He went from ties to menswear in 1968 to women’s button-downs in 1971, the same year Jerry Magnin opened the first Polo store in Beverly Hills. His idea, making men’s clothing for women, wasn’t radical. Yves Saint Laurent had put women in tuxedos in 1966, and Katharine Hepburn was an icon in slacks long before that. What distinguished Lauren was his ability to dream bigger than one garment or one season. He gave America a fashion identity.