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"I DON'T KNOW IF I'M A GREAT DESIGNER OR NOT A GREAT DESIGNER OR a great businessman or a great innovator, but I'm still here," joked Ralph Lauren to a packed room at the St. Regis Hotel.
As a keynote speaker at the WWD/DNR CEO Summit, Lauren, who is celebrating his 40th year in business, spoke passionately - and mostly off the cuff - for nearly 75 minutes about his love of the business, how he has kept true to himself and his beliefs, and how he's been able to maintain his vision in an ever-changing world as he created a $4.3 billion company.
Although the summit's theme was "Reinvention," Lauren took exception to that concept. "[My business] wasn't reinvented. I didn't reinvent it every week or every year. I built it one by one, step by step," the designer said.
Dressed in a black pinstripe Purple Label suit, Lauren described many of the concepts the company created to expand the enterprise, such as Blue Label, Black Label, Purple Label, Home, Rugby, RRL, Chaps and a fleet of company-owned stores from Madison Avenue to Moscow.
As the head of a public company, Lauren stressed the necessity to find new ways to grow. He also emphasized the importance of being a student of one's business, and understanding where young people go, where they are shopping today and who's buying your merchandise.
"I love to come to work every day. I love it because I have a team of people in my company who are creative and exciting. There's innovation, there's excitement in the air. And by having fun and enjoying your business, you can also be very successful, and I think we have proved that," said Lauren.
This was his third time speaking at the ceo summit. At a previous meeting, Lauren had criticized department stores, saying he was unhappy with the way the stores looked.
"I must tell you, just to start this thing off right, I think department stores since I last spoke have done an amazing job," said the designer. And he turned specifically to Michael Gould, chief executive officer of Bloomingdale's, and said, "Mike, you've done an amazing job."
Holding onto one's identity and keeping one's vision in an ever-changing fashion world...