Hey, Fashion Aficionados!
Fashion is a big deal to a lot of campers. That’s why you can always find a plethora of pretty patterns and cool designs in all of our camping gear, and other camp supplies. Not surprisingly, an extremely famous fashion designer was once a summer camper like all of you. In fact, Ralph Lauren thought camp was so nice, he went there twice (or to two different camps anyway which are both now closed).
He attended Camp Massad, located among the magical, “Lauren”tian mountains in Pennsylvania. After a summer stay there, he continued his personal growth at Camp Roosevelt in Monticello, New York in the Catskill Mountains on Lake Sackett. At these places, Ralph took his first steps into a larger and more independent world.
Like his summer camp experiences, Ralph went to two different high schools as well: the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy as well as DeWitt Clinton High School, from which he graduated in 1957. Ralph grew up admiring role models like John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Stewart so it had always been a dream of his to develop the type of persona and reputation that a movie star might have.
His fashion sense was budding early—in his high school days—when he started selling neckties to his classmates and other students. He went on to study business at Baruch College. With only a few business classes under his belt, Ralph started his own business to reprise his production of neckties.
Making minor tweaks to the skinny, plain neckties of the day, Ralph made wide ties that popped with color. His simple, new take on fashion swept Bloomingdale’s and other retailers of the time. In his first year of business, he sold $500,000 in ties! This business eventually grew into the Ralph Lauren Corporation clothing company which is now a globally recognized multi-billion-dollar venture.
Since his wild success, Ralph has noted that in his Clinton High yearbook, he put down ‘millionaire’ as one of his life goals. Last year, his wealth was estimated to be $8 billion, making him the 155th richest person the world over.
Summer camp certainly helped Ralph to see that some risks are healthy to take and, sometimes, will lead to endless success! What will summer camp teach you? As always, thanks for reading!
- John