Following nine months of media foreplay, a new website from Polo/Ralph Lauren will open soon, and is collecting e-mail addresses to notify eager visitors when the site is up.
The site will offer an estimated 2500 products, in addition to “virtual tours” of the Madison Avenue Polo Mansion in New York.
Polo.com is the core property of a joint venture called Ralph Lauren Media (forged by Ralph Lauren and NBC). Ultimately, this collaboration could lead to TV shows co-starring the “Polo lifestyle.” The new website falls under the care of Ralph Lauren media chief creative and marketing officer David Lauren, 29, son of the Polo founder, possible heir to the good life label and former editor of the now defunct “Swing” magazine.
While some big-ticket items will be available ($3000 chronograph watches from the 60s) the company will not put high-end collections (evening gowns and suits) online, feeling it isn't the appropriate retail forum. Most of the available online items will cost about $100.