Yahoo Lifestyle Ralph Lauren Will Receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Ralph Lauren has lived a life of firsts. Since the founding of his eponymous label 58 years ago, the Bronx native has been recognized as the first designer to be given an in-store boutique by a department store, the first designer to open a freestanding store of their own, and the first designer to clinch Coty awards in both the men’s and women’s categories in the same year.
Now Lauren, who turned 85 this past year, has notched another. At a ceremony held today in Washington D.C., President Biden will award Lauren the Presidential Medal of Freedom, making him the first fashion designer to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor.
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The honorific, which was established by John F. Kennedy in 1963 and has since decorated such figures as Martin Luther King Jr., Walt Disney, and Mother Teresa, is in recognition not only of the designer’s remarkable business acumen—which has spawned over 500 stores worldwide, as well as numerous restaurants—but his philanthropy and unmatched status as an exporter (and embodiment of) the American dream.
“I have always been inspired by the dream of America—families in the country, weathered trucks and farmhouses; sailing off the coast of Maine; following dirt roads in an old wood-paneled station wagon; a convertible filled with young college kids sporting crew cuts and sweatshirts and frayed blue sneakers,” the designer wrote in his self-titled book, which was published by Rizzoli in 2011.
While this may be Lauren’s highest award to date, it’s by no means his first. The founder has previously been decorated with the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal in recognition of his preservation of the original Star-Spangled Banner (which was itself turned into an iconic Ralph design), France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, and was even made an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by then-Prince Charles in 2019.
However, it seems safe to guess that Lauren—who in addition to championing the all-American aesthetic, has also dressed Team USA in every Olympic Game since 2008—may rank his home country’s medal the highest.
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