Since its inception in 1967 as a humble necktie designer, the Ralph Lauren brand has expanded across the globe and holds a dominant international position in mid-range luxury goods such as apparel, homewares, fragrances and accessories. Consequently, Ralph Lauren himself is considered as one of the truly great American designers that has shaped and exported Americana all over the world.

A key part of Ralph Lauren’s long term success as a fashion brand has been its ability to win over customers from a range of different demographics. Both older and younger generations agree that Ralph Lauren creates excellent products. Typically, older generations are drawn to its simplicity, and high-quality manufacturing. Ralph Lauren has become iconic for younger generations due to well-known figures in pop culture sporting the brand. The Polo Bear design was enshrined in fashion history by Kanye West. Other sub-brands have helped maintain a versatile and dynamic range of clothing, such as Polo Sport, which became highly desirable in the 1990s, giving Ralph Lauren credibility when it comes to streetwear and youth fashion and culture.

Like most fashion brands, Ralph Lauren has ventured into sponsorships. They are particularly prominent as sponsors in professional tennis; however, they do not sponsor individuals. Ralph Lauren specializes in sponsoring entire events or teams, such as the US Open, Wimbledon, Australian Open or the USA Olympic Team.

Ps. If you’ve got a Ralphy shirt with a missing button, you can learn how to fix it in minutes using our repair guide here.

Y2K Polo Ralph Lauren Commercial

How to tell if Ralph Lauren is vintage from the logo and sub brand

Tracking the development of the core Ralph Lauren logo is incredibly simple. Simple in the sense that the emblem of a polo player has not changed whatsoever since its introduction. Whilst this makes spotting a Ralph Lauren item of clothing very easy, it doesn’t really help us identify the era of a vintage Ralph Lauren piece. However, Ralph Lauren has released a plethora of sub-brands, and by assessing when these sub-brands were in production, we can narrow down how vintage Ralph Lauren is.

Chaps

• Began in 1978 in response to the counterfeit market growing around core Ralph Lauren products
• It lasted as Chaps Ralph Lauren until the late 1990s, and was then rebranded as just Chaps
• Similar aesthetics as other sub-brands such as polo sport, using bold colors and graphics

Denim & Supply

• Launched in 2011, Denim & Supply was discontinued just 5 years later
• This sub-brand generally designed unique bohemian and military clothing

Lauren Ralph Lauren

• Launched in 1996 as an attempt to compete in lower cost department stores
• This sub-brand is generally associated with lower quality and price

Polo Country

• Launched in the 1980s
• The original label and logo just said Country instead of Polo Country until the mid 1990s, and this can be a good way of determining the era of a Polo Country piece

Polo Golf and RLX Golf

• Launched in 1990 and then rebranded as RLX Golf in 1998
• This sub-brand often used more lightweight fabrics and sportswear style materials
• RLX Golf is still running to this day, and if you have a Polo Golf piece it has to be from the 1990s

Polo Jeans

• Launched in the mid 1990s, Polo Jeans was a fan favorite until 2006 when it was discontinued
• Polo Jeans clothing was associated with higher quality and bold designs

Polo by Ralph Lauren

• Launched in 1968, just one year after the company was founded, Polo is still running to this day as one of Ralph Lauren’s most successful and sought after sub-brands
• Branding on tags has been almost unchanged since the inception of Polo by Ralph Lauren
• In the mid 2010s the tag and logo of this sub-brand was updated to a slimmer, yellow font
• Because of so little change in the main tags of Polo, we need to use other clues to work out when a piece is from and generally the more wash tags and information that can be found on Polo tags, the more modern they are
• Some of the newer Polo items (mostly since the mid 2000s) also have production dates on the wash tags
• Modern items typically use thinner, lower quality materials

Polo Sport

• Launched in 1992 with stadium collection, Polo Sport was discontinued in the mid 2000s
• Polo Sport has released many iconic pieces, particularly appealing to youth culture which gave Ralph Lauren credibility in the emerging streetwear fashion movement
• A few reproductions of old Polo Sport lines were released in 2019 in limited quantities but can be identified for using modern tags and using slightly lower quality materials

Ralph by Ralph Lauren

• Launched in the mid 1990s
• Initially Ralph was aimed at the younger market, with slightly lower quality and prices
• Ultimately this sub-brand was sold mostly in Canadian department stores

Ralph Lauren Black Label

• Launched in the mid 2000s, Black Label was discontinued in 2014
• It was one of Ralph Lauren’s premium sub-brands, using high quality materials and this was reflected in the price
• This sub-brand was a small step down from Ralph Lauren’s high-end sub-brand, known as Purple Label
• Black Label clothing tended to be a slimmer and more modern cut

Ralph Lauren Purple Label

• Launched in 1994, Purple Label is still running to this day
• This mythological sub-brand was created to compete with high end product design and manufacturing powerhouses such as Gucci, Versace and others
• Ralph Lauren Purple Label products only use the highest quality materials and are usually manufactured in countries with a reputation for high end fashion such as Italy
• The high quality is reflected in the price, making this Ralph Lauren’s most expensive sub-brand

Ralph Lauren

• Launched in 1967, Ralph Lauren is the original brand, and still runs to this day
• The aesthetic and fit of Ralph Lauren is very similar to Polo by Ralph Lauren
• Whilst it shares many similarities with Polo by Ralph Lauren, a slightly lower quality and price can be seen

How to tell if Ralph Lauren is vintage from the collection

Within Ralph Lauren’s sub-brands, they have launched collections that have been both critically acclaimed and popular within mainstream fashion, cementing Ralph Lauren as the designer of the masses. These collections have often been time-limited, and there are even more collections than sub-brands; however, two of the most notorious and sought after in the vintage marketplace are Polo Bear and Snow Beach.

Polo Bear

• Launched in the 1990s under the Polo by Ralph Lauren brand, Polo Bear was discontinued in 2001, and then relaunched in 2015
• New Polo Bear can easily be differentiated from vintage Polo Bear as they use the newer Polo by Ralph Lauren tags (as can be seen in the tags guide further down), and they are sometimes even printed on the inside of the item

Snow Beach

• Launched in the 1990s under the Polo by Ralph Lauren brand, Snow Beach was discontinued in the early 2000s; however, it has been reproduced in recent years
• Vintage Snow Beach has noticeably different wash tags that have pixelated text on a thicker fabric tag
• Snow Beach was made very popular amongst streetwear fans because famous rappers such as the Wu-Tang Clan regularly wore it

How to tell if Ralph Lauren is vintage from the tags

As previously mentioned, branding in terms of logos and fonts have remained pretty constant with Ralph Lauren, but slight changes in tags, and general rules can be applied to help you tell if your Ralph Lauren is vintage.

One of the first giveaways that a Ralph Lauren piece is vintage is if it was made in the USA or Canada. Ralph Lauren only started manufacturing outside of North America in the mid-1980s, so any piece made in the USA or Canada is bonafide vintage.

Another good rule to apply to Ralph Lauren tags is this, the more tags and information included on the tags, the more modern the item. Like most brands, over time Ralph Lauren has included more and more product information within the neck and wash tags. The final clue to apply is that modern tags are printed on the neck instead of being on a piece of fabric. Most major fashion brands have transitioned to this as customers often found fabric tags uncomfortable.

After applying these rules, you can begin to compare your tags with tags from different decades of Ralph Lauren to finally get an approximate idea of how old your vintage Ralph Lauren is.

Having trouble with your vintage tags? Upload a picture on our vintage tag identification form, and we’ll help you identify them!

1980s vintage Ralph Lauren tags

• Chaps tags often vary a lot in the 1980s as Ralph Lauren tried to evade counterfeits
• Including the Ralph Lauren name, this tag is a navy square with sizing and material information included on it

1990s vintage Ralph Lauren tags

• In the 1990s, Chaps Ralph Lauren rebranded its tags, still including the sizing information on them
• Ralph Lauren Golf was also launched, and used a blocky font with the word golf in a slightly lighter font
• 1990s Polo by Ralph Lauren tags had the word Polo in a box on a navy tag, and often tags from this era had the sizing and material information
• 1990s Polo Sport tags use the blocky Polo Sport font, and some of the older Polo Sport items were even made in the USA
• They include the Ralph Lauren name and manufacturing and sizing information
• 1990s Polo Jeans tags have an extra piece lip of fabric that includes the sizing and manufacturing information

2000s vintage Ralph Lauren tags

• 2000s Chaps tags reflected its distancing from Ralph Lauren, and stopped using the name on its tags
• Polo Jeans tags from the 2000s varied a lot more and experimented with different fonts and configurations, however many of them included all the sizing and manufacturing information on one fabric tag
• 2000s Polo by Polo Ralph Lauren tags are mostly unchanged when compared to 1990s Polo tags, so we recommend using the washing tag method detailed above to determine its age
• 2000s Ralph Lauren tags use the brand name, intersected by the Ralph Lauren polo player emblem and detail the location of manufacture on them
• 2000s Polo Sport tags are very similar to the 1990s tags, however the Ralph Lauren text is slightly thinner

2010s vintage Ralph Lauren tags

• 2010s Chaps tags mention the founding date of 1978, however do not associate with Ralph Lauren
• Denim & Supply tags are all from the 2010s, and include sizing, material and car information on them
• 2010s Polo by Ralph Lauren tags used a new font, and many of these tags were printed on instead of being on a label, particularly for t-shirts and lightweight items