Sketch of a women wearing striped wrap-style blouse and pants, with a loose hip length jacket with cuffs. This is the cut-out of an advertisement, and the copy reads, Ralph Lauren looks backward to the thirties and revives pale menswear stipes [sic] in Viyella flannel for the trimmest pants, halter, and shirt.yellows, turquoise or pinks. It also includes the fact that the store is open until 8 p.m. on Fridays, at 9215 Old Petersburg Rd. , Evansville. Ralph Lauren (born Ralph Lifshitz; October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and business executive, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. From 1962 to 1964 he served in the United States Army and left to work briefly for Brooks Brothers as a sales assistant before becoming a salesman for a tie company. The Ralph Lauren Corporation started in 1967 with men's ties. At 28 years old, Lauren worked for the tie manufacturer Beau Brummell, where he convinced the company's president to let him start his own line. Drawing on his interests in sports, Ralph Lauren named his first full line of menswear Polo' in 1968. He worked out of a single drawer from a showroom in the Empire State Building and made deliveries to stores himself. By 1969, the Manhattan department store Bloomingdale's sold Lauren's men line exclusively. It was the first time that Bloomingdale's had given a designer their own in-store boutique. In 1971, Ralph Lauren Corporation launched a line of tailored shirts for women, which introduced the Polo player emblem to the world for the first time, appearing on the shirt's cuff. The first full women's collection was launched the following year. 1971 also marked the opening of Ralph Lauren's store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. This is the first freestanding store for an American designer. In 1972 the Ralph Lauren Corporation introduced a signature cotton mesh Polo shirt in various colors. Featuring the polo player logo at the chest, the shirt became emblematic of the preppy look--one of Ralph Lauren's signature styles. The tagline for the ad campaign was: Every team has its color Polo has seventeen. As for the fabric mentioned here, Viyella is a blend of wool and cotton first woven in 1893 in England, and soon to be the first branded fabric in the world . It was made of 55 percent merino wool and 45 percent cotton in a twill weave, developed by James and Robert Sissons of William Hollins & Co, spinners and hosiers. The brand name, first registered as a trademark in 1894, and registered in the United States in 1907, soon covered not only the original fabric, to be sold by the yard (piece goods), but also clothing. At first this was made by separate businesses, but it was not long before Hollins started producing their own clothes and offering franchises to manufacturers who would use the Viyella label. Following increasing emphasis on garment manufacture over the years, Viyella is now a fashion brand for clothes and home furnishings made of a variety of fabrics. The original wool/cotton blend is no longer on sale. Viyella was a soft dress-weight fabric that was more resistant to shrinkage than any comparable pure wool alternative (challis, for example). In its early years it was marketed as a fabric which combined lightness and fashion with warmth and durability. One 1920s advertisement called it a guaranteed unshrinkable fine wool flannel for women who wanted both daintiness and protectiveness . By the early 20th century it came in various weights and widths, some rather narrow by today's standards, and in both plain colours and woven or printed patterns, and was exported from the United Kingdom to other English-speaking countries. Towards the end of the 20th century it was woven in 150cm wide lengths suitable for modern garment design and production.