Word: productive
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Lauren (pronounced Laur-en) has tailored a thriving conglomerate as well. Rarely if ever has a clothing designer established a product range so wide, a retailing network so extensive, a marketing image so well defined. That company, Polo/Ralph Lauren, expects total retail sales to hit $1.3 billion this year, a fourfold jump since 1981. If Lauren's company were publicly held, its retail revenues would place it 257th in this year's FORTUNE 500 listings. The designer's personal wealth is estimated to be $300 million, plus whatever he keeps after taxes this year on his projected 1986 profits...
...popular and negotiable currency: Lauren's total sales are estimated to be one-quarter larger than Klein's. Overall, the U.S. champion money spinner appears to be Designer Liz Claiborne (estimated 1986 sales: $1.8 billion), whose company sells primarily mid- priced clothes for professional women. But in terms of product range, prestige and marketing mystique, Lauren is the leader (see chart...
...rugs and sprays of orchids, the store evokes the imagined atmosphere of a London men's club or a distinguished Edwardian hotel. The display space is cluttered with props, including English saddles, bulbous trophies, top hats and a rack of billiard cues. "Lauren is the only designer with the product range to have such a store," says Nina Hyde, fashion editor of the Washington Post. Some shoppers, though, view the store's atmosphere as contrived...
...collection. In terms of his standing in the industry, he has become fashion's equivalent of an old-time movie mogul who creates, directs and lives out his own view of high style. Lauren possesses the financial and personal clout to put his name on just about any product, or roomful of products, he pleases...
...partnership made a crucial change in the corporation's structure that enabled it to grow in a healthier manner. From direct manufacturing, Lauren and Strom switched almost entirely to licensing deals in which the manufacturer finances production, shipping and part of promotional costs. Thus they escaped the necessity of investment in the capital-intensive garment- making process, along with many of the subsequent losses caused by any product flops. Since the manufacturer assumes more of the risks under licensing arrangements, Lauren gets a smaller share of any resulting profits. But the licensing arrangements give him greater freedom to concentrate...