DNR just announced it’s Top 100 Power Players in menswear and, no surprise, Ralph Lauren holds onto the number one slot yet again.
While this may not seem particularly noteworthy, Ralph Lauren has never been known as one to rest on his bespoke laurels. Constantly driving his vision and company forward, Lauren, 68, is as innovative and finely tuned as ever.
Below is a excerpt from the DNR story, click here to read the entire article.
“Polo Ralph Lauren finished the year with 27 additional, directly operated stores. More recently it opened boutiques on Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles and in Istanbul, Turkey, a new market. In 2009 a Paris flagship will bow on Boulevard Saint Germain, and the original Manhattan flagship, the Rhinelander Mansion, will be converted to a men’s-only concept. The Rugby chain has expanded to 12 stores, all in affluent and/or collegiate areas, as this youth-oriented and lower-priced brand is expected to become a serious growth engine. To that end, Rugby.com revealed e-commerce capability this past summer.
At the beginning of the decade, Ralph Lauren blazed a trail for luxury brands to sell product through Web sites, supported by rich multimedia. This year it led the way in adopting another interactive technology, which allows consumers to make purchases through their mobile phones with ease. Quick Response technology has already become mainstream in Asia and is catching on in Europe. Ralph Lauren is the first luxury brand in the U.S. to directly launch this type of service and incorporate QR codes in advertisements.”
Rounding out the top Ten:
#2 Gorgio Armani (Armani, Emporio Armani, A/X, et al.)
#3 Gildo Zenga (Ermenegildo Zegna)
#4 Eric Weismann (VF Corp.)
#5 Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana (Dolce & Gabana)
#6 Terry Lundgren (Macy’s)
#7 Mickey Drexler (J. Crew Group)
#8 Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli (Prada)
#9 Bernard Arnault (LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton)
#10 François-Henri Pinault and Robert Polet (PPR)