Austrian scribe Marie Ebner-Eschenbach suggested the following: 'In youth we learn; in age we understand.' We suspect that's why Rapid True Value general manager Oscar Kerr, in his continued quest for excellence, discovered that his international competitor Home Depot was carrying Ralph Lauren paint.

Shades of Lauren.

He was impressed both with the product and the manner in which it was presented. A single Ralph Lauren paint roller was what he left with. Two and a half years later, in a setting masterfully created by Ann Marie Wyss of Every Blooming Thing that would impress even the most 'discerning set,' Kerr would declare the luxe wall treatment suitably launched.

"It might very well have been a stylish advantage," he shares with SunDay, "that Lauren and his family find pleasure in Jamaica and own a pied-à-terre at the ultra chic Round Hill Resort & Villa." The tipping point, we suspect, lies squarely in the fact that his company is the number one reseller of paint for True Value worldwide.

Having now raised the style quotient by becoming the only distributor for the paint outside of North America, Kerr and his team seem to have a lot to prove. fact is, there's a lot at stake, but in a country where the externals shift quickly into reality and a man's house is in fact his castle, there's reason for optimism, and with textures of suede and leather and the Lauren promise in these six Lifestyle palettes to infuse the home with individual character and impeccable style, the cans of 100% acrylic latex paint might very well become as style-defining as the much-coveted Birkin handbag.If by some strange fickle twist of fate that fails to impress, then surely the American Dreamer profile of Ralph Lauren, the man behind a US$4.3-billion global business in the latest issue of Vanity Fair might very well ensure that we remain the envy of the region.

When Lauren began to get rich, he began to live very well, but it is revealing that his idea of living well is like his designs, based largely on what the culture has already validated. He has an elegant apartment in one of the best Fifth Avenue buildings, a sprawling weekend estate in Bedford, New York, an oceanfront place in Montauk, Long Island, a ranch in Colorado and a villa at Round Hill, Jamaica.
-Vanity Fair, Style Issue September 2007.
-NMW

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