Who is Dylan Lauren?
The entrepenur has been dubbed the 'Candy Queen' by well known celebrities.
If you have ever popped your head into a Ralph Lauren store or Dylan's Candy bar, it's likely you've heard of Dylan Lauren.
The 46-year-old entrepreneur and mother of two is the daughter of Bronx native and fashion icon, Ralph Lifshitz who later changed his last name to Lauren. Her mother is author, photographer and artist, Ricky Lauren.
Although she was born into a well-established family, Dylan cultivated her own path in becoming a successful businesswoman. In 2001, Dylan, known for having a sweet tooth, opened Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York City, which claims to be the "largest, state-of-the-art sweets emporium."
In doing so, she wanted to merge fashion, art and pop culture with candy in order to "to ignite the creative spirit and inner child in everyone that visits."
Her flagship shop in Manhattan, which is 15,000 square feet, is flush with over 7,500 candies from around the world all of which is surrounded by giant pop-art installations of oversized candy, according to LinkedIn. The store also sells items including ice cream, apparel and stationary.
"I also love the colors and textures and shapes of candy," she told Forbes in an interview. "To me, it’s like art, so my passion for candy has evolved from loving eating it to looking at it to collecting it because of the packaging and the colors — sort of making my own art out of candy, making mosaics out of gumballs or jelly beans or decoupaging with candy wrappers."
She added that the products are "featured in a way that they’re displayed like art."
Since then, her candy empire has grown tremendously, tapping into various markets including East Hampton, Los Angeles, Miami Beach and Chicago, all of which feature the same wide selection of products.
Her candy boutique shop has even found a home within various airports including the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Tampa International Airport, Southwest Florida International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Her products can even be found within Neiman Marcus, W Hotels, Four Seasons Hotels and the Empire State Building, according to the company's LinkedIn.
Since her creation, she has been dubbed the "Candy Queen" by well-known celebrities including Oprah who has been known to stop by the shop, according to Forbes.
In fact, the candy store has quite the celebrity following with individuals such as Bill Clinton, Michelle Obama to Gayle King stopping by now and again.
The Duke graduate married financier and University of Pennsylvania grad Paul Arrouet in 2011 at her parent's estate in Bedford, New York, according to the New York Times.