Genuine Authentic: The Real Life of Ralph Lauren – A Revealing Biography of the Fashion Designer's Meteoric Success and the Secrets Behind the Empire

by Michael Gross

A fascinating and comprehensive look into the life of American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, now with an afterword. “Deep-dish...sharp-clawed...honestly admiring.”— New York Times There are at least two Ralph Laurens. To the public he's a gentle, modest, yet secure and purposeful man. Inside the walls of Polo Ralph Lauren, though, he was long seen by some as a narcissist, an insecure ditherer, and, at times, a rampaging tyrant. Michael Gross, author of the bestsellers Model and 740 Park , lays bare the truths of this fashion emperor's rise, and reveals not only the secrets of his meteoric success in marketing our shared fantasies, but also a widely unknown side that's behind the designer’s chic façade.

Genres: Biography, Fashion, Nonfiction, Business, Memoir, Art

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

This book list is a work in progress. Michael Gross is recognized as one of America’s most provocative writers of non-fiction–its “foremost chronicler of the upper-crust,” says curbed.com. His latest book Unreal Estate, to be published November 1, 2011, is a west coast version of his bestseller, 740 Park, this time exposing the most exclusive neighborhoods of Los Angeles–Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Bel Air and Beverly Park–and their residents. 740 Park, published in 2005, is the inside story of New York’s richest, most prestigious cooperative apartment building. Built by James T. Lee, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ grandfather, and long the residence of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., 740 Park is today the home of some of New York’s wealthiest and most prominent families. Fortune has described 740 Park as “jaw-dropping apartment porn.” It offers an unprecedented peek into the world of such latterday financial heroes and villains as Stephen Schwarzman, Ezra Merkin and John Thain.

In between these real estate epics, Gross published the wildly controversial expose of New York’s cultural elite Rogues’ Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money that Made the Metropolitan Museum in 2009, setting off an extraordinary campaign by some of New York’s most influential citizens to suppress the book. It failed. The New York Times Book Review called it “a blockbuster exhibition of human achievement and flaws” and Vanity Fair said it is simply “explosive.” Why? “Gross demonstrates he knows his stuff. It’s a terrific tale…gossipy, color-rich, fact-packed …What Gross reveals is stuff that more people should know,” according to USA Today. A paperback edition was released in May 2010.

Before 740 Park, Gross wrote Genuine Authentic, a biography of fashion designer Ralph Lauren. It was acclaimed by The New York Times as a work of “impressive reporting” that “hack(s) through the hype and half-truths” of the Polo purveyor’s legend. Publishers Weekly praised his “meticulous research and artful prose…The crackerjack journalist simultaneously tells a compelling story and gives it meat enough to be satisfying.”

A Contributing Editor of Travel & Leisure, Gross has also worked as a columnist for The New York Times, GQ, Tatler, Town & Country, and The Daily News; a Contributing Editor of New York (where he wrote 26 cover stories, including the magazine’s all-time best-selling reported cover story on John F. Kennedy, Jr.), and of Talk; a Senior Writer at Esquire, and a Senior Editor at George.

In 2000, Gross published My Generation, a generational biography of the Baby Boom. It was called “wonderful” by the Washington Times, “trenchant, well-dramatized, thought-provoking and unusual” by Kirkus Reviews and “hugely entertaining…a brilliantly reported story,” by the Orlando Sentinel.

Gross’s 1995 book, Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, was an investigative tour-de-force, and a blistering expose of the fashion-modeling business. It was a New York Times bestseller, and a selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club. Model, which remains in print and in demand more than a dozen years after its first publication, was also published in France, the U. K., Canada, Australia, Germany, Japan, Brazil, and China. Most recently, an updated edition was published in Russia. Click here to read reviews of Model.

Over the years Gross has profiled such subjects as John F. Kennedy Jr., Greta Garbo, Stephanie of Monaco, Richard Gere, Alec Baldwin, Madonna, and Ivana Trump; fashion figures Tina Chow, Calvin Klein, Diane von Furstenberg, Isaac Mizrahi, Ralph Lauren, and Steven Meisel, and he’s written on topics as diverse as philanthropy, the theft of the internet domain sex.com, plastic surgery, divorce, the A-List, Sex in the 90s and Greenwich Village-the last in an article that introduced the phrase “quality of life” into New York City’s 1993 mayoral campaig

Reviews

[Ciji Ware · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that Michael Gross did an incredible job of reporting a subject who "only wished to be described in the noblest of terms" and apparently withdrew "access" as he realized his biographer was going to write about whatever and wherever his research took him. What results is a fair, even-handed account of an enormously talented designer and entrepreneur, most of whose creations I happen to adore--but I found it startling to learn that in later years, Ralph Lauren approved the manufacture of "cheaper versions" of his work that never saw the inside of a "real" RL store, but went straight from (mostly) Southeast Asia to the discount malls in hopes the gullible public --in need of the reassurance wearing a "brand" gives some lacking in self-esteem--would buy these second-rate products in the belief they were getting both "class" and bargains. I love the title "Genuine Authentic"...it says it all. Bravo, Michael Gross--you've illuminated a fascinating American man whose personal rags-to-riches story is very much worth telling.

[Annika · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you care about fashion/Ralph Lauren, you may like this book a lot better than I did. I tried, but could never really muster up enough caring about either to like it at all. It's pretty detailed, business-wise, about Ralph Lauren and his rise to the top. But it's mute on his personal life, any kind of depth or warmth, and the tiny bit about his background and history shows that the author had to dig very very deep to get all that.

It seems that Ralph Lauren wanted a bio, but didn't want a bio. He wanted a How I Did This in Business book, but nothing about himself. Fine, I mean, keep your privacy, but he doesn't at all come across as a very likable person anyway. So he allegedly called up family and friends and warned them a book was being written and not to talk to the author. Nice. How helpful. The most interesting part of the book was the very very end when the author and Lauren are arguing about what can and can't be included.

Now I need to find a bio on Calvin Klein.

[Wyatt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Genuine Authentic is a takedown of Ralph Lauren, one of the most successful fashion designers of the last 50 years. It’s a somewhat entertaining, gossipy takedown, but a takedown nonetheless, in the style of other 90s-era relics like the Martha Stewart bio. That’s not the only way this book aged poorly. Author Michael Gross’s sneering disdain for Ralph’s Jewish, working-class background would likely receive a chillier reception now, when such elitism is viewed with disdain. One wonders if the desire to hammer Ralph for being a Jew who worships WASPs is what drove what felt like at least 50 pages chronicling Ralph’s Jewish genealogy and upbringing. But whatever this was supposed to convey, it was just boring. The book wasn’t quite a total bore, but it’s not worth the time and definitely not among Gross’s best.

[Si Squires-Kasten · Rating 4 out of 5]

book 2 of 3 about appropriating WASP culture

[DELANEY · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forgot to update. This book was different then my usual reads, but want to read more biography books. It was a cool read about a cool person

[Nikki G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know other reviews and the author himself were not fond of Lauren knowing the origin story of the famous designer made me like and respect him more. While some of Lauren's personality flaws were made prominent these are the same flaws or traits a designer should have like being a perfectionist. This is a must-read for people interested in fashion and the preppy designer pioneers of the twentieth century along with Lauren adorers like myself. Knowing Lauren's struggles has given me profound respect and appreciation for the designer behind the brand. Sorry if this review was just me praising Ralph Lauren.

[Renee · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was not for me. I read the first 100 pages and it never got any better. It reads like an encyclopedia just regurgitating facts and ideas. Sometimes I think it is asking to much to have a fiction book read more like a novel rather than a manual. A matter of fact I've read better written manuals.

[Laren]

J'adore the Laurens and of course j'adore Lauren Bush Lauren and magnificent Sharon...I am nervous and excited to read this. Michael cannot write a bad sentence and btw, he was my editor at BG magazine..he was one of the best....so ...to be continued!

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. My main objective is the anonymity of certain people, and sources in some cases. With that in mind, this is an ambitious and somewhat insightful bio. I actually started to like Ralph Lauren after having read this, never gave him much thought before - only the clothes. Recommended.

[Aauvi House · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found it very insightful.