Ricky Ann Lauren (née Loew-Beer;
born June 15, 1943), is an American author, artist and photographer, and wife of fashion designer
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...
. She is also a psychotherapist.
Early life
Born Ricky Ann Loew-Beer,
she grew up in New York City.
She is the daughter of Austrian immigrants,
Margaret Vytouch and Rudolph Loew-Beer. Lauren was an English major at
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
. She met her future husband Ralph Lauren at the eye doctor's office where she was working part-time. Lauren also taught fifth grade and danced for a time in
The Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
.
On December 20, 1964, she married Ralph Lauren in New York City.
She was the daughter of a Jewish father and a Catholic mother.
Career
Hostess, patron and fundraiser
Lauren has supported her husband's career as a kind of "silent partner", as summarized by ''The New York Times''.
These activities included attending fashion industry events or charities with him,
hosting parties, and her patronage for charitable events. In 2000, she and her husband established a cancer center which is part of
North General Hospital
North General Hospital (NGH) was an American private, not-for-profit, voluntary teaching hospital located in New York City in the East Harlem section of Manhattan at Marcus Garvey Park. It was founded in 1979 to replace, as tenant, the Hospital ...
in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
. The couple also founded the Ralph and Ricky Lauren Center for the Performing Arts, which is located at the
Lexington School for the Deaf
Lexington School and Center for the Deaf comprises the Lexington School for the Deaf, the Lexington Hearing and Speech Center, Lexington Vocational Services, and the Lexington Center for Mental Health in New York City, aimed at serving the deaf an ...
, in New York City.
Lauren has been identified as the "Polo Persona", the model by which the Polo advertising campaigns are developed.
Of being his muse, Ralph wrote in his memoir, "I didn't like the girl with all the makeup and high heels. I liked the girl in jeans and a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves, wearing her boyfriend's jacket. That's the girl I am attracted to. That's the girl I married—Ricky."
Ralph also acknowledged that when he began designing women's clothes, his interest was piqued by his wife's frustration in finding clothes she would like that could fit her slim and petite build.
Psychotherapist
After her children were in school, Lauren returned to college, earned her degree, and then worked as a psychotherapist.
Author
Lauren is an author, artist and photographer best known for her lifestyle and cookbooks. One of her books is ''Cuisine, Lifestyle, and Legend of the Double RL Ranch'',
of which ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' says, "Here is a loving — and really beautiful — picture-book tribute (with history and recipes) to the spot near Telluride that spawned an empire built on denim shirts, tooled turquoise-buckle belts, and red-and-black horse blankets."
It reflects her interest in a casual life style and simple Western-style cuisine.
She wrote ''
The Hamptons: Food, Family and History'',
which was well received by ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
''.
Lauren wrote and illustrated "Safari" with her photographs from a 1983 trip to Africa. The proceeds of the leather-and canvas-bound book go to the
World Wildlife Fund
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...
.
She also wrote the book ''My Island'' in 1994.
Personal life
Ricky and Ralph Lauren have three children, Andrew,
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, and
Dylan.
[The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...]
in a converted barn during the beginning of their marriage.
.
.
that they bought in 1982.
Lauren studied photography after she was married.