Selling a Dream of Elegance and the Good Life
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Lauren has a Broadway producer's flair for launching large fashion collections. Boldly and with apparent ease, he markets clothing lines that contain dozens of items linked by a single conceptual theme. He came by such ; skills the hard way: Lauren's first high-volume production, his launch of a splashy Western Wear collection in 1978, was plagued by mistakes. The designer and his manufacturers were several months late in delivering the extensive line of cavalry shirts, prairie skirts, cowboy boots and other products. The women's jeans, which Lauren tailored with his willowy wife in mind, were cut so lean in the seat and thighs that Women's Wear Daily called the fit "impossible" for regular-size folks. Some department stores were stunned at Lauren's demand that they include in their displays so many props. Among them: cacti, split-rail fences and wagon wheels. Lauren soon moved on to other themes.
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Things went far more smoothly with his Rough Wear collection, which featured clothes for would-be mountaineers and fishermen. The response was also favorable for his Santa Fe designs, which included such exotica as a ruffled pink suede blouse (price: $778) and a hand-beaded Navajo-patterned women's top (about $5,950).
Lauren's productions seem to be growing ever more extravagantly elaborate, raising the question of how much more attention he can continue to pay to all the details. His most recent acme of orchestration is this fall's version of a huge home-furnishings line, divided into styles variously labeled Chairman of the Board, New England, Thoroughbred and Adirondack, among others. Lauren launched his first home-furnishing series in 1983. He had spent 18 months working with J.P. Stevens, the textile giant, to develop the initial collection of some 2,500 sizes, shapes and styles of products, ranging from stemware to blankets. When the huge assortment made its debut, it suffered immediate problems from late arrivals at retail outlets and uneven quality control. "A disaster! Disaster!" his partner Strom recalls. Lauren and Strom weeded out troublesome items, including glassware and dishes, and now expect the home-furnishings business to grow by 75% this year, to $50 million.
Lauren is a master of minutiae. In advertisements and store displays, he surrounds his understated wares with loads of charming and inventive doodads, many of them for sale. Rather than merely display a blazer or a skirt, he likes to present a whole pile of goodies. The side tables in Lauren displays are nearly always covered with rows of framed pictures that suggest comfortable surroundings of family and tradition. Lauren's home-furnishing arrangements fairly gush with conspicuous consumption: eight pillows on a bed, all with ruffles and contrasting fabrics. Lauren hopes that customers will buy the whole package, in effect trusting his ability to mix and match. Apparently they often do. Says Cheryl Sterling, president of Lauren's furnishings division: "People come into the stores and say, 'I want that bed, just the way it looks.' "