Ralph Lauren Ventures into Entertainment: Taps Universal Talent for Board

Ralph Lauren is going after entertainment. The U.S. group has added Cesar Conde, chairman of NBC Universal News Group, who is also a member of the boards of Walmart and PepsiCo, to its board of directors. The appointment is part of a new repositioning strategy for the brand, which seeks to get closer to the public through entertainment.

With this move, Ralph Lauren is following in the footsteps of Gap. The U.S. group announced yesterday the launch of a new fashiontainment division to take its brands into territories such as cinema, music, video games and sports. The new division will be led by Pam Kaufman, an executive from Paramount.

Patrice Louvet, president and chief creative officer of Ralph Lauren, said in a statement that Conde’s experience “will be invaluable to our company as we continue to execute our next great chapter: driving strategy and charting our path to long-term sustainable growth and value creation.“

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A Harvard University graduate with an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Conde is a former president of Univision Network. He is currently responsible for the U.S. media conglomerate Nbc Universal News Group, which includes Nbc News, Nbc News Now, Telemundo Enterprises Group and Nbc Universal Local. With Conde at the helm of the company, Nbc Universal News Group has expanded its reach and posted audience and distribution growth in its local market. Conde also serves on the boards of Walmart and PepsiCo.

The group, chaired by Ralph Lauren and led by Patrice Louvet, ended the second quarter of its fiscal 2026, ended September 27th, with 17% growth in sales to $2.01 billion. This increase was driven by a 12% rise in average price and the strength of its direct-to-consumer channel.

For the first six months of the year as a whole, the company’s sales were $3.79 billion, 7% higher than in the same period of the previous year. Half-year net income was $302 million, up 19%, and the adjusted operating margin reached 12.9%.