Ralph Lauren Launches New Rugby Line

Ralph Lauren's latest designs didn't debut on catwalks in New York or Paris but inside a narrow storefront on Newbury Street. The legendary apparel designer is using Boston's college town status to launch his new "Rugby" line and store, which are Lauren's attempt to capture a greater piece of the $27.5 billion 18-to-24-year-old apparel market in the United States.

Rugby, which opened last weekend, furthers Lauren's push to control where his merchandise is sold and how it is presented to customers by operating the stores himself. It also makes Boston the launch pad for Lauren's first brand created exclusively for sale in his own stores, as opposed to offering pieces through department stores or other channels.

Next year, the company plans to offer the Rugby label through its Polo.com website. The company is unequivocal about its plans to use the preppy-chic Rugby to get into the wallets of well-heeled college kids and newly minted young workers, a segment where it admittedly has a gap. To woo college kids, the company will advertise heavily in campus papers.

That positions the collection squarely in the faces of one of the most free-spending apparel consumer groups. Shoppers between the ages of 18 and 24 spent $27.5 billion on clothes in the last 12 months, according to research firm NPD Fashionworld, of Port Washington, N.Y. That represents 16.2 percent of total apparel sales over the same period.