There are at least two Ralph Laurens.

To the public he’s a gentle and modest, yet secure and purposeful man. Inside the walls of Polo Ralph Lauren, though, he was long seen by some as a narcissist, an insecure ditherer, and, at times, a rampaging tyrant.

Michael Gross, author of the bestsellers Model, 740 Park, and House of Outrageous Fortune, lays bare the truths of this fashion emperor’s rise, and reveals not only the secrets of his meteoric success in marketing our shared fantasies, but also the unknown personality behind the designer’s chic façade.