Our products reflect a timeless and innovative interpretation of American style with a strong international appeal. Our consistent emphasis on new and distinctive design has been an important contributor to the prominence, strength, and reputation of the Ralph Lauren brands.

Our marketing and advertising programs communicate the themes and images of our brands and are integral to the success of our product offerings. The majority of our advertising program is created and executed on a centralized basis throughby our in-house creative and advertising organizationagency to ensure consistency of presentation, which is complemented by our marketing experts in each region who help to execute our international strategies.

We create distinctive image advertising for our brands, conveying the particular message of each one within the context of the overall Ralph Lauren aesthetic. Advertisements generally portray a lifestyle rather than a specific item and include a variety of products offered by ourselves and, in some cases, our licensing partners. Our primary advertising medium is print, with multiple page advertisements appearing regularly in a range of fashion, lifestyle, and general interest magazines. Major print advertisingcommunication campaigns are conducted during the fallprimarily executed through a combination of print, outdoor, digital, and spring retail seasons, with additions throughout the yearsocial media platforms, and, to coincide with product deliveries. In addition to print, we utilizea lesser extent, through television and outdoor media in certain of our marketing programs. We also market our brand through direct-to-consumer marketing, special events, and interactive digital activities. We use our consumer database and consumer knowledge to guide these activities.cinema.

Our digital advertising programs focus on high impact and innovative digital media outlets, which allow us to convey our key brand messages and lifestyle positioning. We also develop digital editorial initiatives that allow for deeper education and engagement around the Ralph Lauren lifestyle, including the Ralph Lauren magazine, style guides,RL Magazine, RL Style Guide, and videos.a wide array of video and social media content. We deploy these marketing and advertising initiatives through online, mobile, email, and social media. Our e-commerce sites present the Ralph Lauren lifestyle online, while offering a broad array of our apparel, accessories, and home product lines.

We also conduct a variety of public relations activities. Each spring and fall, our Ralph Lauren Women's Collection is presented during New York Fashion Week. In Fiscal 2015, we hosted a uniqueWe also introduce each of the spring and fall menswear and womenswear collections at press presentations in major cities such as New York Fashion Week experience in Central Park to debut our Polo for Women Spring 2015 collection using groundbreaking projection technology. Towering above Manhattan, the water-screen runway projection was captured by hundreds of spectatorsCity and shared internationally via news outlets and social media, resulting in over two billion global media impressions. To debut our Polo for Women Fall 2015 collection, we hosted an exclusive presentation that was attended by top tier press, celebrities, high-profile models, and digital influencers. During Fiscal 2015, we also presented our Fall 2015 Collection at our breathtaking Palazzo in Milan during Milan Fashion Week.Milan. These fashion events, in addition to celebrity red carpet dressing moments, model appearances, as well asand events hosted in-store and in our newly opened restaurantstores and restaurants, including The Polo Bar in New York The Polo Bar,City, generate extensive domestic and international media and social coverage.

We continue to be the official outfitter for all on-court officials at both the Wimbledon and the U.S. Open tennis tournaments. Both tournaments provide worldwide exposure for our brand in a relevant lifestyle environment. We also continue to be the exclusive Official Parade Outfitter for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams, with the right to manufacture, distribute, advertise, promote, and sell products in the U.S. which replicate the Parade Outfits and associated leisure wear. Most recently, we dressed Team U.S.A. for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and activities have already started to dress the team for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Rio.Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As part of our involvement with Team U.S.A., we have established a partnership with athletes serving as brand ambassadors and as the faces of our advertising, marketing, and public relations campaigns.

Most of our businesses must commit to the manufacturing of our garments before we sell finished goods, whether to wholly-owned retail stores or to wholesale customers. We also must commit to the purchase of fabric from mills well in advance of our sales. If we overestimate our primary customers' demand for a particular product or the need for a particular fabric or yarn, we mayprimarily sell the excess products or garments made from such fabric or yarn in our factory stores or through other secondary distribution channels.

Competition is very strong in the segments of the fashion and consumer product industries in which we operate. We compete with numerous designers and manufacturers of apparel and accessories, fragrances, and home furnishing products, both domestic and international. We also face increasing competition from companies selling our product categories through the Internet. Some of our competitors may be significantly larger and have substantially greater resources than us. We compete primarily on the basis of fashion, quality, value, and service, which depend on our ability to:

To facilitate global distribution, our products are shipped from manufacturers to a network of distribution centers around the world for inspection, sorting, packing, and delivery to our retail locations and e-commerce and wholesale customers. This network includes the following primary distribution facilities:

Our management information systems make the design, marketing, manufacturing, importing,importation, and distribution of our products more efficient by providing, among other things:

The point-of-sale registers, in conjunction with other systems in our stores, enable us to track inventory from store receipt to final sale on a real-time basis. We believe our merchandising and financial systems, coupled with our point-of-sale registers and software programs, allow for efficient stock replenishment, effective merchandise planning, and real-time inventory and sales accounting.

In the U.S. and Europe, we utilize an automated replenishment system to facilitate the processing of basic stock replenishment orders from our Retail segmentretail business and wholesale customers, the movement of goods through distribution channels, and the collection of information for planning and forecasting purposes. In the U.S. and Europe, we also utilize an automated allocation system to facilitate the flow of inventory for our Retail segment.retail business.

We are inrecently completed the processimplementation of implementing a global operating and financial reporting information technology system, SAP, as part of a multi-year plan to integrate and upgrade our systems and processes. The implementation of this global system is scheduled to occur in phases over the next several years. During Fiscal 2015, we continued to migrate certain areas of our business to SAP, including global merchandise procurement and customer order management and record-to-report for our North American wholesale operations. We are also in the process of executingsubstantially completed the migration of our EuropeanNorth America operations to SAP which will beduring Fiscal 2015, and the migration of our Europe operations to SAP was completed in stages overduring the next several years.first quarter of Fiscal 2018. In addition to implementing SAP, we also completed the migration of our North America and Europe operations to a new procure-to-pay platform during Fiscal 2016 and Fiscal 2017, respectively. Further, we have plans to transition our e-commerce operations to a third-party cloud-based platform during Fiscal 2018.

We own the RALPH LAUREN, POLO, POLO BY RALPH LAUREN DESIGN, and the famous polo player astride a horse trademarks in the U.S. and approximately 120 countries worldwide. Other trademarks that we own include:

Mr. Ralph Lauren has the royalty-free right to use as trademarks RALPH LAUREN, DOUBLE RL, and RRL in perpetuity in connection with, among other things, beef and living animals. The trademarks DOUBLE RL and RRL are currently used by the Double RL Company, an entity wholly-ownedwholly owned by Mr. R. Lauren. In addition, Mr. R. Lauren has the right to engage in personal projects involving film or theatrical productions (not including or relating to our business) through RRL Productions, Inc., a company wholly-ownedwholly owned by Mr. R. Lauren. Any activity by these companies has no impact on us.

Our trademarks are the subject of registrations and pending applications throughout the world for use on a variety of items of apparel, apparel-related products, home furnishings, restaurant and café services, online services and online publications, and beauty products, as well as in connection with retail services, and we continue to expand our worldwide usage and registration of related trademarks. In general, trademarks remain valid and enforceable as long as the marks are used in connection with the related products and services and the required registration renewals are filed. We regard the license to use the trademarks and our other proprietary rights in and to the trademarks as extremely valuable assets in marketing our products and, on a worldwide basis, vigorously seek to protect them against infringement. As a result of the appeal of our trademarks, our products have been the object of counterfeiting. While we have a broad enforcement program which has been generally effective in protecting our intellectual property rights and limiting the sale of counterfeit products in the U.S. and in most major markets abroad, we face greater challenges with respect to enforcing our rights against trademark infringement in certain parts of Asia.

Virtually all of our merchandise imported into the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand is subject to duties. In addition, most of the countries to which we ship could impose safeguard quotas and duties to protect their local industries from import surges that threaten to create market disruption. The U.S. and other countries may also unilaterally impose additional duties in response to a particular product being imported (from China or other countries) at unfairly traded prices in such increased quantities that would cause (or threaten) injury to the relevant domestic industry (generally known as "anti-dumping" actions). If dumping is suspected in the U.S., the U.S. government may self-initiate a dumping case on behalf of the U.S. textile industry which could significantly affect our costs. Furthermore, additional duties, generally known as countervailing duties, can also be imposed by the U.S. government to offset subsidies provided by a foreign government to foreign manufacturers if the importation of such subsidized merchandise injures or threatens to injure a U.S. industry. Legislative proposals have been introduced which, if adopted, would treat a manipulation by China of the value of its currency as actionable under the anti-dumping or countervailing duty laws.

We are also subject to other international trade agreements and regulations, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, the Caribbean Basin Initiative, and other special trade programs. A portion of our imported products are eligible for certain of these duty-advantaged programs. In addition, each of the countries in which our products are sold havehas laws and regulations covering imports. Because the U.S. and the other countries in which our products are manufactured and sold may, from time to time, impose new duties, tariffs, surcharges, or other import controls or restrictions, including the imposition of a "safeguard quota," or adjust presently prevailing duty or tariff rates or levels, we maintain a program of intensive monitoring of import restrictions and opportunities. We seek to minimize our potential exposure to import relatedimport-related risks through, among other measures, adjustments in product design and fabrication, shifts of production among countries and manufacturers, and through geographical diversification of our sources of supply.

We are also subject to other international trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement and other special trade preference programs. A portion of our imported products are eligible for certain of these duty-advantaged programs. Apparel and other products sold by us are also subject to regulation inunder the U.S. and other countries by otherjurisdiction of multiple governmental agencies, including, in the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Consumer Products Safety Commission,Commission.

Our products are also subject to regulation in the U.S. and other countries, including the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which imposes limitations on the permissible amounts of lead and phthalates allowed in children's products. These regulations relate principally to product labeling, licensing requirements, and consumer product safety requirements and regulatory testing, particularly with respect to products used by children. Any failure to comply with such requirements could result in significant penalties and require us to recall products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business or operating results. We believe that we are in substantial compliance with these regulations, as well as applicable federal, state, local, and foreign rules and regulations governing the discharge of materials hazardous to the environment. We do not estimateanticipate any significant capital expenditures for environmental control matters either in the next fiscal year or in the near future. Our licensed products, licensing partners, buying/sourcing agents, and the vendors and factories with which we contract for the manufacture and distribution of our products are also subject to regulation. Our agreements require our licensing partners, buying/sourcing agents, vendors, and factories to operate in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and we are not aware of any violations which could reasonably be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business or operating results.

There are risks associated with an investment in our securities. The following risk factors should be read carefully in connection with evaluating our business and the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Any of the following risk factors could materially adversely affect our business, our prospects, our results of operations, our financial condition, our liquidity, the trading price of our securities, and/or the actual outcome of matters as to which forward-looking statements are made in this report. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently view as immaterial may also materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition in future periods or if circumstances change.

Consistent with our announcement on February 2, 2017, Mr. Stefan Larsson departed as the Company's President and CEO and as a member of our Board of Directors, effective as of May 1, 2017. Subsequently, on May 17, 2017, we announced that Mr. Patrice Louvet will be appointed as the Company's new President and CEO and as a member of our Board of Directors, effective as of July 10, 2017 or such date as may be mutually agreed upon by the parties. Our Businessability to continue to execute our long-term growth strategy, including our Way Forward Plan initiatives, may be adversely affected or delayed by the uncertainty associated with the transition to a successor CEO. In addition to Mr. Larsson's departure, certain other members of our executive and senior management team have departed in recent years, and we plan to continue to implement other management and organizational changes in connection with our long-term growth strategy. These changes in our executive and senior management team may be disruptive to, or cause uncertainty in, our business and future strategic direction. The departure of certain key executives, including Mr. Larsson, and the failure to ensure a smooth transition and effective transfer of knowledge involving senior employees could hinder or delay our strategic planning and execution, as well as adversely affect our ability to attract and retain experienced and talented employees. Any such disruption or uncertainty could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition, and the market price of our common stock. Further, such disruption may hinder our ability to maintain an effective system of internal controls and compliance with the requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Mr. Ralph Lauren's leadership in the design marketing, and operationalmarketing areas of our business has been a critical element of our success since the inception of our Company. Mr. R. Lauren is instrumental to, and closely identified with, our brand that bears his name. Our ability to maintain our brand image and leverage the goodwill associated with Mr. R. Lauren's name may be damaged if we were to lose his services. We depend on the service and management experience of Mr. Lauren and other key executive officers, who have substantial experience and expertise in our industry and our business. The death or disability of Mr. R. Lauren or other extended or permanent loss of his services, or any negative market or industry perception with respect to him or arising from his loss, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Our

We also depend on the service and management experience of other key executive officers and other members of senior management who have substantial experience and expertise in our industry and our business and have made significant contributions to our growth and success. The loss of the services of any of theour key executive officers or other members of senior management, including members of the Office of the Chairman, or one or more of our other key personnel, or the concurrent loss of several of these individuals or any negative public perception with respect to these individuals, could also have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We are not protected by a material amount of key-man or similar life insurance covering Mr. Lauren, our other executive officers, including Mr. R. Lauren, or other members of senior management. We have entered into employment agreements with Mr. Lauren and certain otherof our executive officers, but competition for experienced executives in our industry is intense and the non-compete period with respect to Mr. Lauren and certain otherof our executive officers could, in some circumstances in the event of their termination of employment with our Company, end prior to the employment term set forth in their employment agreements.

If we are not successful in implementing and managing our restructuring plans, we may not be able to achieve targeted operating enhancements, sales growth, and/or cost reductions, which could adversely impact our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Our failure to achieve targeted operating enhancements, sales growth, and/or cost reductions could also result in the implementation of additional restructuring-related activities, which may be dilutive to our earnings in the short term.

Our business is typically affected by seasonal trends, with higher levels of wholesale sales in our second and fourth fiscal quarters and higher retail sales in our second and third fiscal quarters. These trends result primarily from the timing of seasonal wholesale shipments and key vacation travel, back-to-school, and holiday shopping periods impacting our Retail segment.retail business.

TheAlthough the global economy remains in a state of uncertainty, with certain regions of the world currently outperforming others. While the U.S. economy has shown signs of modest improvement driven by falling unemployment, lower oil prices, and continued low interest rates, economies in certain parts of Europegeographic areas, global consumer retail traffic remains relatively weak and Asia have slowed considerably, evidenced by softening business sentiment, lower rates of growth, foreign exchange volatility, and the threat of deflation. Additionally, certaininconsistent. Certain worldwide events, including political unrest, acts of terrorism, monetary policy changes, and currency and commodity price changes, increase volatility in various partsthe global economy. In addition, the current domestic and international political environment, including potential changes to U.S. policies related to global trade, taxation, immigration, and healthcare, as well as the United Kingdom's decision to exit the European Union, have also resulted in greater uncertainty surrounding the future state of the world,global economy. As the majority of our products are produced outside of the U.S., major changes in tax policies or trade relations could have added uncertainty and have had an impacta material adverse effect on consumer travel and spending. The retail industry was particularly challenged in 2014, with trends likely to continue through 2015. our business or operating results.

While certain geographic regions are withstanding these pressures better than others, the level of consumer travel and spending on discretionary items remains constrained duein certain markets, with trends likely to this continued economic uncertainty. Consumer retail traffic remains relatively weakcontinue throughout calendar 2017 and inconsistent, which has led to increased competitionpotentially beyond. As a result of these collective factors, among others, many retailers, including certain of our large wholesale customers, have been highly promotional and a desirehave aggressively marked down their merchandise in an attempt to offset traffic declines with increased levels of conversion. The retail industry has also experienced numerous consolidations, restructurings, reorganizations, and other ownership changes in recent years, and we expect such changes will continue as a result of current economic conditions. Certain of our operations have experienced, and have been impacted by, these dynamics, with variations across the geographic regions and businesses in which we operate.

We generated $894$952.3 million of cash from operations during Fiscal 2015,2017, compared to $907 million$1.007 billion during Fiscal 2014.2016. The declinedecrease in our operating cash flows was primarily relatesdue to thea decline in net income before non-cash charges, partially offset by a net favorable change related to our operating assets and liabilities, during Fiscal 2015 as compared to the prior fiscal year.including our working capital.

Our equity declined to $3.891$3.300 billion as of March 28, 2015,April 1, 2017, compared to $4.034$3.744 billion as of March 29, 2014,April 2, 2016, primarily due to our Class A common stock repurchases, and dividends declared, largelyand comprehensive loss, partially offset by our comprehensive income and the net impact of stock-based compensation arrangements during Fiscal 2015.2017.

On May 12, 2015, our Board of Directors approved a reorganization and restructuring plan comprised of the following major actions: (i) the reorganization of the Company from its current channel and regional structure to an integrated global brand-basedCompany's operating structure which willin order to streamline our business processes to better align our cost structure with our long-term growth strategy; (ii) a strategic store and shop-within-shop performance review conducted by region and brand; (iii) a targeted corporate functional area review; and (iv) the consolidation of certain of our luxury lines (collectively, the "Global Reorganization Plan"). The Global Reorganization Plan will resulthas resulted in a reduction in workforce and once a performance review is complete, the closure of certain stores and shop-within-shops. When substantially implemented by the end of Fiscal 2016,Actions associated with the Global Reorganization Plan iswere substantially completed during Fiscal 2016 and are expected to result in improved operational efficiencies by reducing annual operating expenses by approximately $100$125 million.

The comparability of our operating results for the three fiscal years presented herein has been affected by certain events, including: