Ralph Lauren Steps Down As CEO From His Label

Ralph Lauren, 75, has announced today that he is stepping down from his label after almost 50 years.

He will be replaced by the president of Gap's chain Old Navy, Stefan Larsson, who will be chief executive. Ralph will stay on as chief designer and chairman - "I am still here and am not leaving he said." We think this means one of our favourite moments of New York Fashion Week will still happen - when Ralph and his blue blazer takes his final bow at Ralph Lauren.

Sales in Ralph Lauren have dipped by 44% in the past year. The designer said of his replacement: "He understands what dreams are. In this business, it's about dreams because you are dreaming ahead and you're about progress and change and newness."

Ralph Lauren founded his label in 1968, with his preppy polos, cable knits and colourful ties quickly becoming Ivy League staples. His iconic polo shirt was first released in 1972.

Ralph said in an interview with US Vogue about how he started his label: "I started with nothing. And my father was an artist—he painted houses when he couldn’t get a job as an artist. I was lucky. I never went to fashion school. I had an innate thing I never even knew I had. And it’s about my own taste and my own ideas. Forty-seven years ago, someone lent me $50,000 to make ties, and they said, “Let’s do more things,” and it turned into something great."