Vogue on: Ralph Lauren

Description

Ralph Lauren's designs vividly embody the American Dream and he has risen to become his country's foremost fashion designer. His visionary ability has created a multi-billion-dollar brand, still very successful almost 50 years on. His genius lies in his innate skill for interpreting key cultural elements of Americana - whether folk art, or the world of polo-playing Hamptons' socialites, or Navajo motifs - and encapsulating them in appealing garments.

Kathleen Baird-Murray is a writer for Vogue and a columnist for the Financial Times. She was formerly Acting Beauty Director for Vogue and Beauty Director for Tatler, has written for the Daily Telegraph Saturday Magazine and The Observer, and is author of How to Be Beautiful - The Thinking Woman's Guide.