Ralph Lauren has become the first fashion designer to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in a ceremony on Saturday conducted by US President Joe Biden
The Jewish-American designer, whose brand is worth an estimated $10 billion, born Ralph Lishitz, was described by the White House as someone who “redefined the fashion industry with a lifestyle brand that embodies timeless elegance and American tradition.”
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the United States’s highest civilian honour, presented to individuals who are deemed to have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, security, world peace, or other significant societal endeavours.
Born in the Bronx to Jewish immigrant parents, Lauren told trade publication Women's Wear Daily that, “To receive the Presidential Media of Freedom conferred personally by the President of the United States is an honour of a lifetime. As a proud American citizen, I accept it with gratitude and great humility”.
