RALPH LAUREN CORP (RL) Business
This page reproduces the company's own Item 1 Business text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Informational only - not investment advice. See Disclaimer.
Item 1. Business.
General
Founded in 1967 by Mr. Ralph Lauren, we are a global leader in the design, marketing, and distribution of luxury lifestyle products, including apparel, handbags, footwear & accessories, fragrances, home, and hospitality. For nearly 60 years, Ralph Lauren has sought to inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style. Our long-standing reputation and distinctive image have been developed across a wide range of products, brands, distribution channels, and international markets. We believe that our global reach, breadth of lifestyle product offerings, and multi-channel distribution network are unique among luxury and apparel companies.
We diversify our business by geography (North America, Europe, and Asia, among other regions) and channel of distribution (retail, wholesale, and licensing). This allows us to maintain a dynamic balance as our operating results do not depend solely on the performance of any single geographic area or channel of distribution. We sell directly to consumers through our integrated retail channel, which includes our retail stores, concession-based shop-within-shops, and digital commerce operations around the world. Our wholesale sales are made principally to major department stores, specialty stores, and third-party digital partners around the world, as well as to certain third-party-owned stores to which we have licensed the right to operate in defined geographic territories using our trademarks. In addition, we license to third parties for specified periods and geographies the right to access our various trademarks in connection with the licensees' manufacture and sale of designated products, such as certain apparel categories, eyewear, fragrances, and home furnishings.
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We organize our business into the following three reportable segments: North America, Europe, and Asia. In addition to these reportable segments, we also have other non-reportable segments. See "Our Segments" for further discussion of our segment reporting structure.
Our global reach is extensive, as we sell directly to customers throughout the world via our 594 retail stores and 644 concession-based shop-within-shops, as well as through our own digital commerce sites and those of various third-party digital partners. Merchandise is also available through our wholesale distribution channels at approximately 9,500 doors worldwide, the majority in specialty stores, as well as through the digital commerce sites of many of our wholesale customers. In addition to our directly-operated stores and shops, our international licensing partners operate 135 stores.
We have been controlled by the Lauren family since the founding of our Company. As of March 28, 2026, Mr. R. Lauren, or entities controlled by the Lauren family, held approximately 85% of the voting power of the Company's outstanding common stock.
Objectives and Opportunities
Our purpose is to inspire the dream of a better life through authenticity and timeless style. We believe that our size and the global scope of our operations provide us with design, sourcing, and distribution synergies across our business. Our core strengths include a portfolio of luxury lifestyle products spanning across five categories: Apparel, Handbags, footwear & accessories, Fragrances, Home, and Hospitality; a well-diversified global multi-channel distribution network; an investment philosophy supported by a strong balance sheet; and an experienced management team. Despite the various risks and uncertainties associated with the current global economic environment, as discussed further in Item 7 — "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Global Economic Conditions and Industry Trends," we believe our core strengths will allow us to effectively execute our long-term growth strategy.
During our September 2025 Investor Day, we introduced our current 3-year long-term growth strategy for Fiscal 2026 to Fiscal 2028, which is presented below:
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Global Citizenship and Sustainability
Our Global Citizenship & Sustainability work focuses on enhancing the resilience of the teams, communities, partners and natural resources that are essential to our business. Timeless by Design is our intentional approach to driving positive impact across our value chain. Building on the meaningful progress made over the past several years, the next phase of our strategy, Timeless by Design 2030, advances our efforts with a focus on four pillars: Partner for Impact, Protect Natural Resources, Engage & Enable Teams, and Care for Communities.
1.Partner for Impact
Our supply chain efforts integrate risk assessment, monitoring, remediation, capability building and stakeholder engagement. We seek to strengthen supplier relationships, increase transparency and traceability, advance empowerment and life-skills programs for the people who make our products and ensure systems are in place to deliver fair and timely compensation. We also collaborate with industry partners and other stakeholders to address shared challenges, including supply chain decarbonization and responsible sourcing. We have established targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across our operations and supply chain and to improve water-use efficiency, particularly in water‑stressed basins.
2.Protect Natural Resources
Our business depends on long-term access to natural resources, including raw materials and water. We seek to advance efforts to enhance the resilience of natural resources and reduce our environmental impact and sourcing risk.
Our approach includes work related to soil health, waste management, circularity, chemical management and biodiversity. We work to minimize waste and divert materials from landfill and incineration, and we are committed to the responsible management of chemicals used in our products and processes.
We also work to address key climate and nature-related impacts of natural materials, including cotton and other plant and animal-based textiles. We source materials that meet defined preferred attributes and engage partners to improve soil health and strengthen land management and animal welfare practices. As part of our integrated biodiversity approach, we are focusing on the most pressing nature issues for the Company — water quality, soil health and biodiversity — and aligning these efforts with our goals related to climate, water stewardship and chemical management.
3.Engage & Enable Teams
Our people are central to our success. We work to create an environment where everyone feels valued and teams can harness their passion and creativity to inspire our customers to dream in a way that only Ralph Lauren can. We do this through opportunities for growth and development, supporting their well-being and by fostering a culture of belonging — creating an employee experience that attracts and retains the industry's best talent.
Our approach to belonging and equity prioritizes open dialogue by amplifying all perspectives through year-round heritage events and structured programming. We also provide comprehensive benefits and wellness offerings that support employees' physical, emotional, social and financial well‑being, helping our teams thrive and contribute to the long-term success of the Company. To build a strong, connected global team, our career framework supports our growth through learning and development experiences, including the Ralph Lauren Mentoring Program, workshops and e-learnings. We track our progress through our annual employee survey, with a continued focus on maintaining a high-performing score.
4.Care for Communities
We work to uplift the communities we serve globally through philanthropic giving, employee volunteering and strategic partnerships that advance opportunities to enable the dream of a better life for all. Our community efforts include contributions made by the Company to the The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation and other non-profit charitable organizations, as well as employee‑led volunteer initiatives.
A central focus of our community engagement is Pink Pony, our long‑standing initiative in the fight against cancer, supporting programs for research, screenings, early diagnosis, treatment, education and patient navigation. Additionally, our Community Outreach & Impact and Ralph Lauren Gives Back programs drive our work to care for the communities we serve.