Ralph Lauren just launched luxury's first AI It's called ‘Ask Ralph’ and gives styling advice

It was only a matter of time before major luxury names started creating branded chatbots. The first to make a move seems to be Ralph Lauren, which, on the eve of its show at New York Fashion Week, unveiled Ask Ralph, an artificial intelligence tool integrated into the brand’s official app. It’s not a generic assistant but rather a kind of virtual personal shopper able to answer practical questions like “What can I pair this sweater with?” or “What should I wear for lunch?”, with the goal of conveying the allure Ralph Lauren has codified for decades.

It’s not the first time the industry has tried to shift the shopping experience onto a technological plane. A few years ago, Luxottica introduced augmented reality on Ray-Ban’s e-commerce platform, allowing customers to virtually try on glasses before buying. Ask Ralph fits into the same trajectory, but with a different objective: not only simplifying the purchasing process but turning AI into an exclusive style guide, trained solely on the brand’s content. An approach that, as David Lauren, chief branding and innovation officer, told Vogue Business, aims to reinforce the brand’s authority over its aesthetic language and maintain editorial control over how customers discover products.

The timing is no coincidence. Ralph Lauren is experiencing a phase of strong growth, particularly in the Chinese market, where, according to Business Insider, sales recorded a +20% increase in the last quarter while many competitors struggled. This situation allows the brand to experiment without the immediate pressure of chasing results. Also, because the technology, for now, shows all its limits, as demonstrated by a Business Insider journalist who asked the bot for an office look and received an impeccable but hardly realistic outfit for everyday life, including a two-button blazer costing almost $900. When put to the test, the bot suggested alternatives, but prices remained far from what an average consumer could afford.

And this is exactly where the doubts start to surface. On the one hand, Ask Ralph presents itself as a natural extension of the Ralph Lauren experience, able to deliver in real time that “American” aesthetic that for generations of millennials has been a status symbol and that today also appeals to part of Gen Z with its old money allure. On the other hand, it risks becoming an exclusive gadget for a limited group of users, rather than a genuine tool for democratizing the brand. After all, if an AI isn’t designed for everyone, what’s the point? The top-tier clientele is already loyal and maintains direct relationships with sales associates in boutiques: they hardly need a chatbot. Even Lauren admitted to Business of Fashion that the first version of Ask Ralph is far from perfect and that the team still has a lot of work ahead. It remains to be seen whether it will become a success like Polo.com in 2000 or end up as just another failed strategy soon forgotten.