In America, You Can Be Anyone You Wanna Be
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What I love about America -- that WASP brand man Ralph Lauren was really something like Mordechai Lifshitz, from the Bronx.
— Amy Alkon (@amyalkon) March 20, 2017
(He was actually born Ralph Lifshitz.)
He's not a WASP, either. He's Jewish.
Patrick at March 21, 2017 3:30 AM
That was kind of the point of the post.
There's a hierarchy in place in Britain and France. It's more possible now than it was do things if you aren't "well-born" in these places, but this is still the best place, with the most opportunity, to reinvent yourself and do entrepreneurial things.
Amy Alkon at March 21, 2017 5:18 AM
WASPs love his clothing, they consider it quintessential American. He peddled wide-cut ties from a cart around NYC and changed the style of menswear at the time. He bartered for the fabric from scraps found in the textile district. Many trends get their start from streetwear. He built his successful brand literally from the streets.
Jess at March 21, 2017 5:36 AM
It's one of those things that often gets overlooked because people have heard it so much that they get bored with it. But it's still true. Why is the rags-to-riches story considered such a quintessential American thing? Because even today, it rarely happens in Europe. If you are born into a low station, odds are you will remain there.
And I'll add that America celebrates certain aspects of the lower economic classes in a way that European culture doesn't. In America, it's a way of punching holes in pretensions. You are unlikely to be driving down a street in London or Paris and hear Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places" blaring out of someone's car stereo, but you might hear it almost anywhere in America, even Manhattan. In Europe, the main appeal to the lower classes is political -- it's Labour, it's Marxism. Once the election is over, forget about them until the next one. In America, the appeal to the lower classes is mainly cultural.
Cousin Dave at March 21, 2017 6:32 AM
I often use Ralph Lauren when people talk about what a great businessman Donald Trump supposedly is.
Ralph Lauren could buy Donald Trump and still be a billionaire. And unlike Trump, Lauren is actually self-made. Trump was given a huge leg up thanks to his father. Lauren started with nothing. His dad was a plumber in Brooklyn.
Patrick at March 21, 2017 8:26 AM
I love how both Lauren and Oprah Winfrey built empires out of nothing. I admire both. I like Lauren's aesthetic, too, except when it goes a little over the edge of rich "Little House on the Prairie" (which isn't to say it's necessarily my style, though I have a bunch of his designs).
Amy Alkon at March 21, 2017 5:22 PM
"I love how both Lauren and Oprah Winfrey built empires out of nothing."
Heh. You forgot two Steves, who founded the most valuable company in the world.
Radwaste at March 21, 2017 7:56 PM
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