After he decided to market the ties on his own, executives at Bloomingdale’s wanted him to narrow the tie slightly and Lauren daringly refused. Although winning Bloomingdales’ account, in anyone else’s eyes, would have been a big victory, Lauren had larger ambitions to become himself a name brand. Lauren found other stores to sell the wide tie to, and as their popularity increased, Bloomingdale’s resistance correspondingly decreased. Whereas thin ties sold at the time for $5, Lauren’s ties commanded between $7.50 and $15. The more people paid for them, the more they valued them. [Donald H. Harrison]