p; Held at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in a cavernous warehouse space designed to evoke a rustic artist’s loft with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the spring/summer 2024 runway show was closed out by supermodel Christy Turlington and attended by a bevy of A-list fans, including Jennifer Lopez and Diane Keaton, just to name a few.  It is just the latest sign that the brand is back on track after struggling to regain its luxury status in recent years.  Ralph Lauren’s rise and fall – and rise again  Prior to launching his own fashion line, Ralph Lauren the designer worked briefly as a sales assistant at Brooks Brothers before joining tie manufacturer Beau Brummell, where he launched a line of men’s ties under the name Polo.  Lauren debuted his first full menswear collection in 1968, and in 1970, he launched The Polo by Ralph Lauren, the first boutique in Bloomingdale’s to be devoted to a single designer.  Long popular with the country club crowd, the brand started popping up in the world of streetwear in the 1990s, and over time, the company created a number of sub-labels to accommodate its wide range of consumer types, including the Ralph Lauren Purple Label, and Polo Ralph Lauren Children, among others.  By the 2010s, Ralph Lauren the brand had never been more accessible – and therein lay part of the problem. According to the data analytics platform Statista, Polo Ralph Lauren’s worldwide revenue peaked in 2015 at $7.62 billion, before dropping to $7.4 billion in 2016 and $6.18 billion in 2017. Between 2013 and 2016, inventory increased 26 per cent, forcing the company to offload large quantities of merchandise at its outlet stores and off-price retailers, and hurting consumers’ perception of the once-aspirational brand.  The retailer held relatively steady profits from 2017 until 2020 when its profits drastically dropped from $6.16 billion to $4.4 billion in 2021. The decline was largely due to Covid-led store closures and a slowdown in demand for luxury goods across the world.  While Ralph Lauren has had a bit of a shaky journey in the past decade, recent numbers indicate a steady climb back to peak profitability.  In 2023, worldwide revenue rose to $6.44 billion and the company reported adjusted earnings per share of $2.34 for the first fiscal quarter, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate, the average of all the current estimates made available by brokerage analysts, of $2.15.  The company’s growth was largely driven by the European and Asian markets, where revenues grew by 8 per cent to $450 million and 13 per cent to $378 million, respectively.  How did Ralph Lauren climb its way back up? A few factors have aided Ralph Lauren’s resurgence in recent years.  For starters, the company has become much more strategic about its image, taking efforts to market itself to a younger, more digitally savvy, socially aware, and financially affluent consumer.  Between 2018 and 2023, its average unit retail, or selling price, has increased by approximately 80 per cent. And it has started modernizing its collections beyond its stereotypical preppy – sometimes “stuffy” – look. In 2022, Ralph Lauren released capsule collections with two Atlanta-based HBCUs (historically Black colleges or universities): Morehouse and Spelman. And in 2023, it announced a partnership with G2 Esports, a Berlin-based organization that works with well-known gaming companies including Fornite and League of Legends, to become the official outfitter of the G2 team.  Another factor that has played into the brand’s comeback is the rise of the “quiet luxury” or “old money” aesthetic.  Thanks to popular television shows like Succession, the concept of dressing in a way that suggests high-status without “obvious” symbols of wealth – like the logomania of the early 2000s – brands like The Row, Loro Piana, and Ralph Lauren have never been more popular. And while it’s hard to predict what will happen in five or 10 years’ time in a fast-moving industry like fashion, Marie Driscoll, an expert on luxury retail and founder and chief analyst at Driscoll Advisors, believes that Ralph Lauren is well-positioned to succeed in the near future.  “Ralph Lauren returning to NYFW this fall is timely as the country is returning to a post-Covid normal, going back to school and returning to the office,” she explained to Inside Retail.  “Shoppers need more help than pre-Covid in determining what fashion works in each venue and Ralph Lauren is a stylish and safe bet during a period of transition with his timeless Americana styles.”  She added that younger shoppers are likely to be attracted to the timelessness of the brand’s aesthetic, and may search out vintage products alongside current season offerings.  “Also, many young New Yorkers rave about Ralph’s coffee, which is an inexpensive immersive brand experience that establishes a connection with the Ralph Lauren lifestyle and brand,” she said.