Ralph Lauren Launches Polo.com

Posted on November 10, 2000

Ralph Lauren Media has announced the launch of Polo.com, which it is billing as a luxury, designer, ecommerce destination website. Polo.com offers access to the American Ralph Lauren lifestyle with clothing, accessories, fragrances, vintage items, travel, style tips, stories, video entertainment, and other content. Ralph Lauren Media was formed in February 2000 to develop Polo-branded media properties in book publishing, television production, feature films and online.

``Bringing the Polo sensibility to the Internet is the next logical step in our evolution,'' said Ralph Lauren. ``Polo has always been about creating worlds and inviting customers to be part of our dream. We were the first to create multi-page ads that tell a story. We were the first to create stores that enable customers to interact with that lifestyle. Now we're creating another first -- Polo.com -- a website that allows people to more fully interact and participate in the dreams and the worlds we've created.''

``The timing couldn't be better for Polo.com,'' said Jeff Morgan, President & CEO of Ralph Lauren Media. ``The Web has matured enough to allow us the opportunity to deliver the richness and beauty that people expect from Polo. The fact that so many people have an affinity for Polo has meant that we've been able to take the time to develop a website that's accessible, easy to navigate and shop, seamlessly integrated with the rest of Polo and very innovative.''

Woven into Polo.com's shopping experience is editorial content and special service-oriented features. Users will find stories and imagery by well-known and emerging writers, illustrators and photographers. The launch of Polo.com also raises the curtain on ``Ask Ralph,'' Ralph Lauren's style guide. Ask Ralph presents Ralph Lauren's perspective on tasteful living. Other features include Polo Travel, Polo Radio and Vintage.

``Polo.com allows our customers the opportunity to literally jump into and interact with the world of Ralph Lauren,'' said David Lauren, Ralph Lauren Media's Chief Creative and Marketing Officer. ``Now a person can not only see our lifestyle advertisements, they can buy the beautiful outfit, they can read an interview with the model who's wearing it, watch a video about how to style it -- and even book a trip to the location where the ad was shot.''