Ralph Lauren Gets License

Jones Apparel Group, the former licensee of Polo Ralph Lauren, has unexpectedly thrown its license back to Polo earlier this month. Now Polo needs to design, sell, manufacture and be ready to ship millions of pounds worth of spring/summer 04 goods by January.

Sceptics on Wall Street say the task is so big that Polo is bound to come up short, predicting the company will wind up with a poor quality end result collection. Polo has resorted to using the same factories that Jones Apparel used to to produce Lauren's men's line. American department stores are likely to be cautious making no commitments about space should deliveries not happen.

When Polo regained its license it prompted investors to sell its shares, and stocks fell by $1.08 on June 3. Polo brought in $2.4 billion last year, and has a variety of lines, from catwalk to homewear.

For Polo, getting back the Lauren business is a great opportunity. Industry executives said the line was one of the most profitable in the fashion industry. Roger Farah, Polo's president, knows there is little room for error to fulfil the spring/summer order books. On Monday he wilfully stated: "It's a big challenge to start and deliver product at this scale, but we're absolute on track. We're ready to roll."