NEW YORK — Ralph Lauren Corp. is a big believer in Made in America.
“When it comes to products Made in America, it is an area we are exploring. We are doing tests,” said the company’s chief executive officer Stefan Larsson at the annual shareholders’ meeting Thursday morning at the St. Regis Hotel here.
Larsson noted that the jacket Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps wore as flag bearer in the Opening Ceremony has illuminating capabilities and how the company has been working with a wearable-tech firm from America. The basic jacket was made in Rochester, N.Y., at the Hickey Freeman factory and then sent to a Flex facility in Texas to add the electroluminescent panels on the front and back.
The disclosure that Lauren was exploring more Made in America product came after Larsson’s presentation to the attendees and a shareholder during the question-and-answer session commented about doing more production in the U.S.
Ralph Lauren, chairman and chief creative officer, opened the annual meeting by saying simply, “Hi. I’m Ralph Lauren.” After introducing board members and leaving some time for routine business matters, the chairman made it clear through the introduction of Larsson that the meeting represented the next new chapter in the history of the
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