NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--This spring, Polo Ralph Lauren expands its shoppable children’s online storybook collection with the introduction of The RL Gang: A Magically Magnificent School Adventure. Showcasing Ralph Lauren Childrenswear Spring 2011 collection, the new RL Gang video is narrated by award-winning actress and mother Uma Thurman, and launches globally March 3 on RalphLauren.com/RLGang and Bloomingdales.com/RLGang, and March 31 on TheBay.com/RLGang.
In celebration of the launch, Polo Ralph Lauren is hosting an international search for one lucky child to be cast in an upcoming installment of the RL Gang. The contest, which will live on the RL Gang tab on Ralph Lauren’s Facebook page, will allow parents in the US and UK to upload a photo of their child and share that photo with friends and family, asking them to vote for their child. The winning child will be chosen from the group of children with the most votes, flown to New York and cast as a member of the RL Gang!
“We are raising the bar by expanding the retail environment to new platforms,” said David Lauren, Executive Vice President of Advertising, Marketing and Corporate Communications. “By delivering a best-in-class virtual shopping experience to both parents and their children, our customers can discover their style in a way that is engaging, informative and entertaining.”
The new storybook unveils each character’s personality through their individual sense of style by showcasing 17 new looks from the spring collection. If a customer likes a certain outfit, they can choose to view that character’s “virtual closet” to shop similar looks. The interactive digital format offers “click to purchase” capabilities allowing shoppers to select their favorite fashions directly from the pages and purchase instantly through RalphLauren.com/RLGang, Bloomingdales.com/RLGang and TheBay.com/RLGang.
As Polo Ralph Lauren is dedicated to children everywhere and the preservation of the arts and education, the Company will donate 15% of all proceeds from the first month of sales of the Childrenswear Spring 2011 collection on RalphLauren.com to Room to Grow—a charitable organization chosen by Uma Thurman. Room to Grow is an innovative program which provides parents raising babies in poverty with one-on-one parenting support and essential baby items throughout their children’s critical first three years of development.
“Polo Ralph Lauren is committed to bettering the lives of children in need and I’m thrilled to partner with them in supporting Room to Grow – an organization that is very dear to my heart,” said Uma Thurman. “I love being able to help another mother who has the same aspirations for her children as I do, but simply does not have the resources."
Polo Ralph Lauren has again partnered with Tikatok.com, the award-winning children’s publishing platform owned by Barnes & Noble, to produce the printed hardcover storybook version of The RL Gang. The book will be available beginning March 3 for $16.95 and can be purchased on Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com/rlgang) and at select Ralph Lauren stores. Tikatok.com will offer the printed book in 12 languages and offer readers the opportunity to personalize the book to create a unique gift (www.tikatok.com/rlgang2). Barnes & Noble.com will also have a digital NOOK Kids Book™ edition (www.nookkids.com) to read on Barnes & Noble’s NOOK Color™, the first full-color touch Reader’s Tablet, and on the NOOK Kids for iPad® app. Through May 31, 2011 all of the proceeds from the NOOK Kids Book will benefit Room to Grow.
For Spring 2011, Ralph Lauren Childrenswear presents wardrobe favorites for a new season of school days, weekends and special occasions. For boys, sportswear is a youthful interpretation of Ralph Lauren’s preppy, sporty sensibility, with button-down shirts and casual crewnecks in colorful stripes. Chinos and plaid shorts appear in rustic dusty shades and beautifully saturated colors. Ultrasoft tees, polos and hoodies feature bold logos and graphics. For girls, there’s a wide array of fashionable dress silhouettes, from ruffled seersucker and rugby dresses to plaid and country floral dresses worn with hand-crocheted sweaters and distressed denim. Signature polos are reinvented with delicate ruching, lending a fresh, modern spirit to Ralph Lauren’s timeless heritage.
The second RL Gang virtual storybook is Polo Ralph Lauren’s most recent technological initiative. The launch follows other innovative concepts such as RALPH LAUREN 4D, the RL Gang virtual storybook collection, Legends Clinics, Lauren by Ralph Lauren online fashion shows, the “user-designed” Rugby online runway show, the Make Your Own Rugby iPhone® application, the Ralph Lauren Collection iPhone application, shoppable QR codes, the first interactive virtual store kiosk, 24-hour interactive store windows and new e-commerce sites for RalphLauren.com and Rugby.com.
ABOUT POLO RALPH LAUREN
Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL) is a leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in four categories: apparel, home, accessories and fragrances. For more than 43 years, Polo's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand names, which include Polo by Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Ralph Lauren Collection, Black Label, Blue Label, Lauren by Ralph Lauren, RRL, RLX, Rugby, Ralph Lauren Childrenswear, American Living, Chaps and Club Monaco, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands. For more information, go to RalphLauren.com.
ABOUT ROOM TO GROW
Founded in 1998 by Julie Burns, Room to Grow is a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of babies born into poverty throughout the critical first three years of development. Room to Grow's innovative program provides parents raising babies in poverty with comprehensive parenting support and essential baby items throughout their children's first three years of life. Upon referral by selected prenatal programs assisting low-income families, parents visit Room to Grow every three months from just before the birth of the baby until their child turns three. During their one-on-one appointments with staff social workers, parents receive developmental information, customized support and all of the needed infant and toddler items to ensure a healthy and secure start for their child. Room to Grow serves over 500 families in New York and Boston. For more information, go to RoomtoGrow.com.