Synopsis
Everyone knows the name Ralph Lauren. Many people know that he was born Ralphie Lifshitz. But not even Lauren himself knows the extraordinary history of his ancestry. And until now, no one really knew how this pint-size nebbish rose from the Jewish ghetto of the Bronx and turned himself from a yarmulke-topped yeshiva boy into the world's leading purveyor of old-money-WASP style. Genuine Authentic is that story.
Horatio Alger, step aside. Lauren, the descendant of generations of eastern European rabbis, is the embodiment of modern ambition. He stands as a symbol of the awesome rewards of self-invention - and not just because he turned a talent for designing ties into a ten-billion-dollar international business. He also demonstrates how precarious success is, how hard a road life can be even for the driven.
Lauren is considered by many to be a phony and a copycat. Yet even though he made up his name and nearly went bankrupt trying to live up to it, he can't be dismissed as a mere fake. His products have revolutionized the way almost everything is sold and the way great brands are built. Like Henry Ford and Walt Disney, he's also a real American authentic. And his business is a stunning American success.
There are at least two Ralph Laurens. To the public he's a gentle, modest, yet secure and purposeful man. Inside the walls of Polo Ralph Lauren, though, he's seen by some as a narcissist, an insecure ditherer, and at times a rampaging tyrant.
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Review
"Catty...dishy...jammed with detail."--New York Times Book Review
"Impressive...engaging."--Cathy Horyn, The New York Times
"Highly readable--and honorable."--New York Newsday
"Explodes the myths."--Denver Post
"Thorough...fascinating."--Detroit Free Press
"Controversial."--Fashion Wire Daily
"Compelling...Juicy stuff."--Toronto Star
"Sizzling."--The Star
"Gross' research is impressive."--People
"Catty...dishy...jammed with detail."--New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Michael Gross is the author of Unreal Estate: Money, Ambition, and the Lust for Land in Los Angeles as well as Rogues' Gallery, 740 Park, Genuine Authentic, and Model. A contributing editor to Travel + Leisure and columnist for Crain's New York Business, he has been a columnist for the New York Times, New York, and GQ, and a contributor to Vanity Fair, Esquire, Gawker, The Huffington Post, and other publications around the world.
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