HBO’s ‘Very Ralph’ Reveals Portrait of Fashion Icon Ralph Lauren

HBO’s new documentary, Very Ralph, premiering Tuesday, November 12, reveals the man behind the icon and the creation of one of the most successful brands in fashion history.

As he enters his sixth decade in business, Lauren reflects on his journey from a boy from the Bronx who didn’t know what a fashion designer was, to becoming the emblem of American style all around the world.

With an uncanny ability to turn his dreams into reality, Ralph Lauren has built a multi-billion-dollar, global powerhouse out of his aspirations, becoming a living embodiment of American optimism and the American Dream.

Les Goldberg/Courtesy of Ralph Lauren

For more than 50 years, he has celebrated the iconography of America and defined American style, translating his vision and inspiration into one of the world’s most widely recognized brands.

Offering unprecedented access to his life and work, Ralph Lauren speaks candidly in extensive interviews about his childhood, his five-decade-long marriage, and the early days of his company.

Courtesy of HBO

He also gives his response to criticism, his inventive multi-page ad campaigns and his pioneering vision which includes a remarkable series of firsts: Lauren was the first designer to create and market a complete lifestyle brand and expand into home furnishings, one of the first to champion diversity on the runway and in advertising and the first to create immersive retail environments that transformed the shopping experience.

Les Goldberg/Courtesy of HBO

Very Ralph also features vivid archives from 50 years of the fashion brand, as well as intimate, revealing interviews with Lauren’s family, long-standing colleagues and other notables, including Anna Wintour, Karl Lagerfeld, André Leon Talley, Hillary Clinton, Robin Givhan, Jason Wu, Naomi Campbell, Martha Stewart, Calvin Klein, Tyson Beckford, Tina Brown, Diane von Furstenberg, Jessica Chastain, Vanessa Friedman and Paul Goldberger.

Very Ralph, Documentary Premiere, Tuesday, November 12, 9/8c, HBO