Ralph Lauren Corp. to incorporate Denim & Supply within Polo brand

London - Change is under foot once more at US fashion company Ralph Lauren Corporation. Following news that Ralph Lauren cut a number of roles and its debut 'See Now, Buy Now' show at New York Fashion Week, the fashion retailer is set to shift its Denim & Supply business into one of three main brands, namely Polo Ralph Lauren.

The repositioning of Denim & Supply within the Polo Ralph Lauren brand is said to be part of Ralph Lauren's Corp. 'Way Forward Plan', reports WWD. "In our Way Forward Plan, one of the key pillars was to focus on the core, and evolve the brand and the business from that. One part of that is to focus on the three core brands — Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren and Lauren by Ralph Lauren," said Stefan Larsson, president and chief executive officer in an interview with WWD.

"When we looked at Denim & Supply — denim has always been a core part of the authentic American style that Ralph has created — we decided to grow the denim business [from] where we have the most growth, and that is within Polo," he added. The company foresees an relatively easy transitioning period for its Denim & Supply customers, as Larsson claims many shoppers of the brand are already purchasing Ralph Lauren's other brands.

Larsson added that there will be no additional redundancies following the restructuring changes, and that Ralph Lauren Corp. will not be updating its guidance for the current fiscal year as the company had already taken the move into account when it shared its assessments of costs last month. However, all initiatives under the Way Forward Plan are predicted to have a larger impact during the second half of fiscal 2017 than the second quarter.

The folding of Denim & Supply is part of the wider changes Ralph Lauren Corp. has under taken to strengthen the company's foundation, said Larsson, as by adding Denim back into the core Polo Ralph Lauren brand will put the brand "closer to the consumer."

At the moment, there will be no changes made to Ralph Lauren's Club Monaco brand or the RLX Golf Brand.

Photo: Ralph Lauren Denim & Supply, Facebook