During the late ’80s, two groups of teenagers from neighboring areas of Brooklyn came together to form a boosting crew with a common goal: to accumulate as much Polo Ralph Lauren as possible.

Known as the Lo Lifes, they dressed themselves in the finest garments stolen from upper-class department stores across the tri-state area, while living a reality that was the complete opposite of the world Ralph Lauren represented.

To the authorities, the Lo Lifes were criminals. But to themselves and those around them, their actions signified something else. They aspired to something greater, empowered by the American Dream that Ralph Lauren personified. They took something that felt out of reach and made it their own. In doing so, they redefined what Polo represented on the streets of New York and inspired a worldwide subculture united by the garments of Ralph Lauren.

A book by Lo Life founder Thirstin Howl the 3rd and photographer Tom Gould.