Reporting by Leah and Paul
Ralph Lauren received the Key to the City of New York in recognition of his contributions as a designer, business leader, and philanthropist on October 14, 2010. Ralph Lauren was honored by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in celebration of the opening of the Company’s newest Women’s store at 888 Madison Avenue.
The Key to the City of New York is given to distinguished persons for outstanding civic contributions. First given in 1702, the Key to the City of New York is presented to distinguished persons for outstanding civic contributions.
Ralph Lauren opened his new Women’s flagship store in New York at 888 Madison Avenue, which now stands as the feminine counterpart to the company’s redesigned men’s flagship in the historic Rhinelander Mansion across the street, which The Classicist covered in detail a few weeks back. The 22,000-sq-.ft. store, reminiscent of the grand Beaux-Arts architecture of the early 20th Century, is dedicated to Lauren’s Women’s and Home collections and also features the designer’s first domestic Watch & Jewelry Salon.
The stately four-story building offers Ralph Lauren Collection, Women’s Black Label, Blue Label, Double RL, RLX Ralph Lauren and Home merchandise, along with a range of exclusive products including fine jewelry, made-to-measure women’s suiting and Collection sleepwear. While nothing equals the magnificence of the Rhinelander Mansion, the new women’s store is a graceful companion to be sure, not to mention larger than its sibling by some 6,000-sq.-ft.
Notables in attendance at the opening included Martha Stewart, Charlie Rose, Vera Wang, Graydon and Art Carter, Candice Bergen and Marshall Rose, Diana Taylor, Robert Rubin, Jon Tisch, Jessica and Jerry Seinfeld, Sandy Weill, Former Mayor Dinkins, Mike Gould, Terry Lundgren, Terry Semel, and Arthur Sulzberger.
