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Create with Intent

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At Ralph Lauren, we aim to create products that are meant to be worn, loved and passed from generation to generation. We are working to make those products from more sustainable materials and methods, committing to circular and culturally sustainable design practices and implementing circular business models. By designing and sourcing with intention and timelessness from the start, we’ll enable our products to live on.

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Case Study

Native American & Indigenous Community Engagement

For 55 years, we have drawn design and storytelling inspiration from the beautiful lands and individuals around us, and as we continue to evolve, we believe it is important to more closely partner with the communities that inspire us. We recognize that we must honor the Native and Indigenous communities that so richly contribute to the culture of this country and many others. In FY22, we took the opportunity to reexamine the ways in which we engage with Native American and Indigenous communities, with dignity and respect for them as our guiding principle.

For 55 years, we have drawn design and storytelling inspiration from the beautiful lands and individuals around us, and as we continue to evolve, we believe it is important to more closely partner with the communities that inspire us. We recognize that we must honor the Native and Indigenous communities that so richly contribute to the culture of this country and many others. In FY22, we took the opportunity to reexamine the ways in which we engage with Native American and Indigenous communities, with dignity and respect for them as our guiding principle.

As we continue to expand our understanding and awareness, we are reviewing our internal creative processes – focused on forging and expanding meaningful partnerships and pursuing long-term pathways for collaboration. We intend to use our platform to amplify Native and Indigenous perspectives, creating space for holistic and authentic storytelling. We seek to establish a credible model of cultural sustainability, where Native and Indigenous communities play a role in creating culturally relevant programming, storytelling and timeless products.

We are also developing Native philanthropic and partnership programs under the following key pillars: community resilience reinforcement, scholarship and education support, cancer care and prevention, social partnerships, water accessibility, environmental preservation and design with intent. In this work, our Company and the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation are partnering closely with organizations like Institute of American Indian Arts, the American Indian College Fund, the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health and DigDeep, among others.

While we have always been inspired by the beauty of the world around us, we are on a journey to evolve our approach to culturally-inspired design. Across our product design and creation functions, we are working to shift to a model built on credit and collaboration – a model we are piloting through our Artist in Residence program with intentions to scale it in the future.

Because of our design-to-production timeline, we may have pre-designed, existing product already in our pipeline created prior to this evolved model. Any new product featuring Native American design motifs following our Summer 2023 season will be created under the evolved model. In line with our sustainability commitments, we will not be disposing of existing product. In this interim period, we will be deepening our efforts to invest in communities of Native and Indigenous artisans.

Sustainable Store Interiors

We are committed to designing and building Ralph Lauren stores with materials that minimize environmental impact and maximize occupant health.

We base our approach on guidelines from leading green building and sourcing organizations, including the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or equivalent).

GOALS

Achieve 100% wood substrates used in key elements of new store interiors Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified, repurposed or recycled by 2025

Responsible Sourcing

We seek to work with partners who share our values and our commitment to conduct business with quality, social and environmental integrity at heart.

Our Supplier Engagement Strategy (SES) aims to achieve mutual, long-term, positive impacts across our supply chain. This requires enduring partnerships based on transparency and trust.

Even with pandemic-related challenges and disruptions, we continued to increase our business purchase value in FY22 to 53% (a 3% increase from FY21) with our Strategic and Key suppliers, aiming for 80% by FY25. We continue to make progress despite managing various country and factory lockdowns as well as ongoing worker shortages, which heavily impact our partners. Together with our partners, we took necessary actions to support and reallocate certain products between their factories or countries to mitigate risk and create supply chain agility.

Goals

80% of our business will be with key and strategic suppliers that meet the criteria across business, social and environmental performances and potential

Responsible Design

In addition to adopting circular principles, we are committed to embedding environmental and cultural sustainability, inclusivity and celebration into the products we design and the stories we tell.

Since our Company was founded more than 50 years ago, Ralph Lauren’s design ethos has been inspired by the many beautiful, complex and interconnected pieces that make up the fabric of America: its history, arts, crafts, cultures and—most of all—its vibrant people. We take our responsibility to use the inspiration that captivates our imagination in a way that is culturally aware and appropriate seriously. We challenge ourselves to think differently and expansively about each stage of the design and development process.

While we have always been inspired by the beauty of the world around us, we are on a journey to evolve our approach to culturally-inspired design. Across our product design and creation functions, we are working to shift to a model built on credit and collaboration – a model we are piloting through our Artist in Residence program with intentions to scale it in the future.

Because of our design-to-production timeline, we may have pre-designed, existing product already in our pipeline created prior to this evolved model. Any new product featuring Native American design motifs following our Summer 2023 season will be created under the evolved model. In line with our sustainability commitments, we will not be disposing of existing product. In this interim period, we will be deepening our efforts to invest in communities of Native and Indigenous artisans.

In early 2022, we elevated Design with Intent, once a workstream of passionate and engaged employees, into our organizational design, establishing a functional department of the same name. Now deeply embedded within our Company’s infrastructure, our Design with Intent department is resourced with experts in culturally cognizant design and product development who think holistically about the stories we champion through product creation and storytelling.

Our Cultural Awareness Guidelines support this approach. We update these annually, ensuring all relevant teams are aware and trained on any improvements.

GOALS

All of our design, production and merchant teams will receive annual training on sustainable, circular, inclusive and culturally aware design
ACHIEVED FOR FY22

Sustainable Materials

We are committed to using more materials in ways that achieve positive social and environmental outcomes, protect biodiversity, advance animal welfare and continuously improve the traceability of our raw materials.

We use durability, craftsmanship and performance as our lenses to drive our search for more sustainable raw materials. Additionally, our Animal Welfare Policy and Forest Protection Policy also help guide our approach to sourcing materials that meet our social, ethical and environmental standards.

In FY22, we continued to invest in fiber production that contributes to healthy ecosystems and soil to support a sustainable and profitable fiber industry. The two most pertinent investments were in Leather Impact Partnership Incentives through Textile Exchange’s Leather Impact Accelerator, and the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation’s founding contribution to the Soil Health Institute to create the U.S. Regenerative Cotton Fund (USRCF).

GOALS

Achieve 100% sustainably sourced key materials by 2025

100% of animal-derived materials will be certified to an animal welfare standard and traceable by 2025

OUR KEY MATERIAL GOALS ARE:

100% of our cotton will be sustainably sourced, defined as: Better Cotton, organic, transitional, recycled, regenerative or Fair Trade-certified

100% recycled polyester by 2025

100% Responsible Wool Standard-certified or recycled wool by 2025

100% of viscose will be sourced and verified through CanopyStyle audits by 2025

100% of leather will be traceable and verified to animal welfare and land management standards, or covered by Impact Incentives and 100% of our tanned leather will be Leather Working Group-certified by 2025

100% Responsible Down Standard-certified or recycled down and feathers by 2023

100% Sustainable Fibre Alliance-certified (or equivalent) or recycled cashmere by 2025

100% of the wood substrates used in key elements of new store interiors will be FSC-certified (or equivalent), repurposed or recycled by 2025.

Integrated Circularity

Embracing responsible design principles, sourcing more ethically and sustainably and extending our relationship with consumers beyond purchase are all key to advancing a circular economy. Our circularity strategy helps shape our approach to product development.

The Ralph Lauren Live On promise builds on our existing circularity strategy. Supported by three foundational pillars, it is a commitment that, by 2030, we will enable our past and future products to live on responsibly.

FIVE CIRCULAR GOALS

By 2025, we will offer high quality products made with 100% recycled cotton

By 2025, we will set and implement circular principles into our design and development process

By 2025, we will make five of our iconic products will be C2C Certified®

By 2025, we will connect consumers with options to rent, repair, and recirculate our products in select top cities

By 2025, we will invest in scaling innovative technologies and regenerative practices to advance the circular economy

Read our 2022 Global Citizenship &
Sustainability Report and
ESG Supplement