David Lauren on AI, Hospitality and Stewarding a Family Fashion Empire

David Lauren said his job as chief innovation officer and chief branding officer at Ralph Lauren is to turn the stories behind products into experiences that keep customers engaged — from immersive digital tools to fashion shows and new hospitality ventures.

Lauren described a string of recent initiatives that illustrate that aim, including Ask Ralph, an AI styling tool the company launched to give customers a personal, 24/7 connection to the brand, and product efforts intended to reduce environmental harm, such as shirts made from materials designed to remove plastic from oceans. He also cited a global volunteerism advertising campaign and the company’s expanded food and beverage offerings as examples of how Ralph Lauren is using its platform beyond apparel.

"My job is to help bring those stories to life, to inspire our customers to want to be engaged in our world," Lauren said in an interview with Time. He said the company seeks to make clothes personal and practical through tools like Ask Ralph, which he described as being "like having Ralph Lauren in your back pocket."

The company is also pursuing hospitality as a new line of business. Lauren pointed to the popularity of Ralph Lauren restaurants and coffee shops and said the brand is exploring hotels and other ways to let people "live in the Ralph Lauren ads." He said the hospitality push is part of a broader effort to expand how consumers encounter and inhabit the brand.

Ralph Lauren has relied on a design philosophy of timelessness since its founding, and Lauren credited that sensibility for the brand’s longevity. He said Ralph Lauren’s work centers on making pieces people will cherish for decades, not just follow seasonal trends. He traced some of the aesthetic lineage to Western influences — Navajo blankets, saddles and ranchwear — and noted how the company’s imagery continues to be referenced by designers globally.

On the business side, Lauren said the company has seen recent growth in Asia and Europe and that management is "constantly monitoring the ecosystem and the business dynamics in the world" as it navigates trade issues, including tariffs. He declined to predict specific outcomes but said the company has been working to adapt to evolving global conditions.

Lauren spoke candidly about the personal dynamics of working under his father, designer and founder Ralph Lauren. He called his father "my best friend" and described him as both a mentor and a demanding boss. "When he loves what I do, it's great. But there's nothing more painful than when your dad, your mentor, and your boss doesn't like your idea," Lauren said, describing the need for directness paired with sensitivity in their working relationship.

He recounted the mixed emotions that come with that arrangement: pride in being part of the family business and the chance to use the company’s reach for social initiatives, and occasional difficulty handling criticism from his father. Lauren said he has worked closely with CEO Patrice Louvet and the company’s roughly 25,000 employees for 25 years and that he has tried to internalize his father’s vision while contributing his own strategic focus.

On succession, Lauren said there will be a "very strong Ralph Lauren after Ralph Lauren," but he emphasized that his father remains active in the business. He described succession planning as an ongoing conversation rather than an imminent handoff, saying the company is preparing for the future while continuing to rely on the founder's influence.

Family legacy and public service were also part of the discussion. Lauren, who is married into the Bush family, said both families share an ethic of responsibility and work. He rejected suggestions of political tension stemming from different public perceptions of the families, saying there is no meaningful conflict and that both sides are focused on civic engagement.

Lauren addressed how privilege and legacy play out in his own household. He said he and his wife emphasize values and work for their three children and avoid pressuring them to wear brand merchandise. He noted his father has worn mainstream retailers and that the family’s approach to fashion at home is pragmatic. He added with a laugh that his children currently favor soccer jerseys and New York Yankees apparel, and that the company’s partnership with the Yankees has made that choice convenient.

On innovation, Lauren described Ask Ralph as an attempt to fuse technology with the company’s storytelling to help customers make clothing personal and actionable. The tool is part of a broader trend in luxury and lifestyle brands to use data and AI for customer personalization. He framed the effort as consistent with Ralph Lauren’s mission: making consumers feel confident and connected to a lifestyle rather than simply selling garments.

Lauren also highlighted sustainability and social campaigns as priorities that benefit from the company’s global reach. He cited the firm’s ability to launch products with environmental benefits and to promote volunteerism to millions of people worldwide as unique advantages of working within a major consumer brand.

While acknowledging the risks that come with extending a heritage brand into new categories, Lauren said he sees opportunity in controlled expansion. He pointed to successful restaurant and retail experiments as evidence that the Ralph Lauren aesthetic can translate beyond clothing. "You can build another company, but this is the greatest platform to effect change," he said, describing the satisfaction of using the brand’s scale for social and environmental impact.

Lauren’s comments illustrate the balancing act at the center of a family-founded luxury business: preserving a storied aesthetic and founder vision while pursuing technological, environmental and commercial growth in new markets and categories. As Ralph Lauren pursues AI, hospitality and sustainability, the company faces the twin challenges of protecting its heritage and evolving to meet contemporary customer expectations.