Ralph Lauren, Brand Analysis and Sourcing Plan.

   Despite a small dip in the second quarter of 2012 the China GDP growth rate is beginning to recover. Also despite a small drop in the demand of luxury goods recently retail sales have grown steadily. Consultancy firm McKinsey & Co predicted that by 2015, China will be the largest luxury goods market in the world (China Daily, 2012).

Of Mice and Men In the book “Of Mice and Men” you can categorize the story as an allegory. The plot represents concepts different from the literal meaning of the story. Like the ranch as a small society. The characters in this story represent groups of people in society.

The fashion industry is one of the most competitive industries in the world: sought after products and coveted brand-name garments can be “in” one season and just as quickly “out” the next. It is one of the most difficult industries for a new brand to successfully penetrate, as the top tier of respected and recognized designers have built their brand equity through many seasons of impeccable looks and styles that consumers have come to demand. Tory Burch LLC, however, made the feat seem easy in 2004 when the start-up brand stormed the women’s ready-to-wear apparel scene and introduced their luxurious, yet affordable, line of clothing. Selling out its first shipment in a matter of weeks, Tory Burch LLC set the tone for

For 50 years, Ralph Lauren 's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. However, in 2015, they reported a 5.3% drop in revenue from June 2014 to June 2015 (O 'Brien, 2015), and since then, the shares began a downward trend.

This behavior brings competitive advantages to the European luxury brands. Moreover, customers in different countries have different purchase behaviors. For instance, some countries’ customers are willing to move away from common recognized brand, because they want to purchase more exclusive products. Furthermore, because of the increasing speed of globalization, people are more likely willing to travel between different countries. These travelers will buy luxury good during their trips. In fact, Chinese tourists contributed over one third of sales in Europe. The luxury goods industry should notice to adjust the actual demand between local people and tourists in Europe

Ralph Lauren is a nuanced visionary; he went from being dirt poor to a multi-billionaire. Ralph Lauren was an American dreamer. He states, “I went to my boss, and I said, ‘Look I’d like to design these ties because I think they could be new.’ He said, ‘The world isn’t ready for Ralph Lauren.’ I never forgot that because I thought that was a compliment.” Ralph took an idea, then made it his reality. He is such an important person in American history, because he performs the idea of believing and achieving.

An increasing economic interdependence of national economies across the world experiences a rapid cross-border movement of goods, service, technology and capital. Luxury goods industry, serve as one of the most competitive industry, emerging and developing rapidly all the time. To a great extent, globalization promotes the development of luxury goods industry significantly in spite of the big shock hit by several times of economic crisis.

This expansion demonstrates how the luxury industry is now run by massive corporations whose focus is only on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and most importantly, PROFITS! With growth and expansion, has come a decrease in quality and rarity. The luxury garments produced are mostly not handmade but are even outsourced to large factories in places such as China and Turkey. Also, to meet quarterly turnover projections, “designers churn(ed) out increasingly trendy collections of clothes, handbags, and shoes.” (Thomas, Pg. 246) With hundreds of new stores around the globe the surplus of designer labeled merchandise is immense hence, the proliferation of outlet malls.

Polo Ralph Lauren is one of the most internationally recognized brands in today’s Fashion industry. Polo is just one of the over 20 lines that Ralph Lauren [originally Ralph Lifshitz] has created. Ralph was always a very outspoken individual and was never one to shy away from speaking his mind and taking chances on his fashion senses. It was this type of boldness that paved the way for his creating of his very own brand, while working at Brook Brothers developing neck ties. (Biography.com Editors, 2016). His first handmade ties sold were known as “handsome” ties, he sold these ties under the name brand “Polo” in 1967 [inspired for his love of sports] for around $7- $10 each (Drummond, 2015). Two years after creating his new brand and winning

According to the textbook, "Euromonitor projects that the Asian-Pacific region will be the largest market in the world for luxury goods by 2008" (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, & Strickland, 2016).

A luxury brand is a brand that consumer associates it with luxury. Most of its products are luxury goods. It includes brands whose names are associated with luxury, high price, or high quality goods.

The overall sales of luxury goods in the year 2009 is expected to be more than US$150 billion and Asia contributes 10% to it. The concept of luxury is now not confined to only to Europe and US, the Asian subcontinent contributes majorly to it, with India and China as the newly emerging markets. Professor James Twitchell (2002) comments on the democratization of luxury and the changing consumer psychology These new customers for luxury are younger than clients of the old luxe used to be, they are far more numerous, they make their money far sooner, and they are far more flexible in financing and fickle in choice. They do not

DeGee Group was a publicly held company in the Food & Beverage Sector with about 4800

Louis Vuitton started off as a trunk maker in the 1800s for traveling as at this point in history traveling was considered a luxury that the rich had. Vuitton founded his brand in 1854 but it was after he died in 1894 that his son Georges took over and really expanded the brand and made it what it is today. In fact, Georges was the one who created the classic Louis Vuitton monogram with the LVs in order to prevent counterfeiting. This brand was really popular during this time era as it was one of the first luxury brands to be founded that would later lead up to other famous designers later in the 1900s. Another very famous brand from this time era is Hermès that was founded by Thierry Hermès. This brand was originally for horse riding gear but then became a handbag luxury brand. ¨Thierry Hermes started handcrafting horse harnesses for caliches and carriages in 1837¨(Said 1). This brand nowadays is known for its ridiculously high prices and it is infamous for its Birkin & Kelly bags that can cost anywhere from $10,000 to a ridiculous $200,000. These are two examples of two luxury brands founded in the Victorian Era that we know of

Trends: North America is said to be the market to watch out for in the next 5 years. Ever since the 2008 crisis and the crash of the retail market, the US has managed to pick itself back up and regain its position, making North America one of the ideal markets to enter in terms of growth for luxury products. As the market is still evolving and the potential clients are finding their foothold in the luxury sector, we have chosen to look at the key trends of this developing country in general. In this report we will talk about the general and financial trends of the US and the penetration of this market.