UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549

                                     FORM 4

                  STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

    Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

[   ] Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5
     obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).
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1. Name and Address of Reporting Person*

    Friedman,                        Richard             A.
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   (Last)                           (First)             (Middle)
    c/o Goldman, Sachs & Co.
    85 Broad Street
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                                    (Street)

    New York,                        New York             10004
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   (City)                           (State)              (Zip)


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2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

    Polo Ralph Lauren Corporation
    (RL)
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3. I.R.S. Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an entity (voluntary)

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4. Statement for Month/Year

    May/2002
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5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year)

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6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
   (Check all applicable)

   [ X ]   Director                             [   ]   10% Owner
   [   ]   Officer (give title below)           [   ]   Other (specify below)


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7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

   [ X ] Form filed by One Reporting Person
   [   ] Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

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                              Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of,                                          |
                                                 or Beneficially Owned                                                             |
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                                    |            |            |                                |              |6.       |          |
                                    |            |            | 4.                             |5.            |Owner-   |          |
                                    |            |            | Securities Acquired (A) or     |Amount of     |ship     |          |
                                    |            | 3.         | Disposed of (D)                |Securities    |Form:    |7.        |
                                    |2.          | Transaction| (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)            |Beneficially  |Direct   |Nature of |
                                    |Transaction | Code       | -------------------------------|Owned at End  |(D) or   |Indirect  |
1.                                  |Date        | (Instr. 8) |               | (A) |          |of Month      |Indirect |Beneficial|
Title of Security                   |(Month/Day/ | -----------|     Amount    | or  |  Price   |(Instr. 3     |(I)      |Ownership |
(Instr. 3)                          |Year)       |  Code  | V |               | (D) |          |and 4)        |(Instr.4)|(Instr. 4)|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
                                                                                             
                                    |            |        |   |               |     |          |              |         |          |
Class A Common Stock                |   5/13/02  |   C    |   |   12,150,000  | A   |          |              |    I    |  01,02   |
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                                    |            |        |   |               |     |          |              |         |          |
Class A Common Stock                |   5/13/02  |   S    |   |   12,150,000  | D   |  $25.20  |    2,291     |    I    |  01,02   |
====================================================================================================================================

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially
          owned directly or indirectly.

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction
  4(b)(v).

FORM 4 (continued)


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                    Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned                                 |
                            (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)                                         |
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            |        |        |      |                  |                 |                       |        |9.       |10.   |      |
            |        |        |      |                  |                 |                       |        |Number   |Owner-|      |
            |        |        |      |                  |                 |                       |        |of       |ship  |      |
            |2.      |        |      |                  |                 |                       |        |Deriv-   |of    |      |
            |Conver- |        |      | 5.               |                 |7.                     |        |ative    |Deriv-|11.   |
            |sion    |        |      | Number of        |                 |Title and Amount       |        |Secur-   |ative |Nature|
            |or      |        |      | Derivative       |6.               |of Underlying          |8.      |ities    |Secur-|of    |
            |Exer-   |        |4.    | Securities       |Date             |Securities             |Price   |Bene-    |ity:  |In-   |
            |cise    |3.      |Trans-| Acquired (A)     |Exercisable and  |(Instr. 3 and 4)       |of      |ficially |Direct|direct|
            |Price   |Trans-  |action| or Disposed      |Expiration Date  |-----------------------|Deriv-  |Owned    |(D) or|Bene- |
1.          |of      |action  |Code  | of (D)           |(Month/Day/Year) |             |Amount   |ative   |at End   |In-   |ficial|
Title of    |Deriv-  |Date    |(Instr| (Instr. 3,       |-----------------|             |or       |Secur-  |of       |direct|Owner-|
Derivative  |ative   |(Month/ |8)    | 4 and 5)         |Date    |Expira- |             |Number   |ity     |Month    |(I)   |ship  |
Security    |Secur-  |Day/    |------| -----------------|Exer-   |tion    |             |of       |(Instr. |(Instr.  |(Instr|(Instr|
(Instr. 3)  |ity     |Year)   |Code|V|  (A)  | (D)      |cisable |Date    |Title        |Shares   |5)      |4)       |4)    |4)    |
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Class C     |        |        |    | |       |          |        |        |Class A      |         |        |         |      |      |
Common Stock|   03   | 5/13/02|  C | |       |12,150,000|   03   |   03   |Common Stock |02 and 03|        |    04   |  I   | 01,04|
====================================================================================================================================

Explanation of Responses:

01:  The  Reporting  Person  is a  managing  director  of  Goldman,  Sachs & Co.
("Goldman Sachs").  Goldman Sachs is an indirect wholly-owned  subsidiary of The
Goldman  Sachs  Group,  Inc.  ("GS  Group").   The  Reporting  Person  disclaims
beneficial  ownership of the securities  reported herein except to the extent of
his pecuniary interest therein, if any.

02: In  connection  with the Offering  (as defined  below),  certain  investment
partnerships  of which  affiliates of Goldman Sachs and GS Group are the general
partner or managing general partner (the "Limited  Partnerships")  converted, in
aggregate,  12,150,000  shares of Class C Common  Stock into an equal  number of
shares of Class A Common Stock. Pursuant to an underwritten public offering, the
Limited  Partnerships  sold  11,000,000  shares  of Class A Common  Stock and an
additional   1,150,000   shares  of  Class  A  Common  Stock   pursuant  to  the
underwriter's  exercise of the  over-allotment  (the "Offering").  Goldman Sachs
beneficially  owns  directly  and GS Group  may be deemed  to  beneficially  own
indirectly 2,291 shares of Class A Common Stock.

03: Shares of Class C Common Stock are  convertible at any time at the option of
the holder into an equal number of shares of Class A Common Stock.

04: Goldman Sachs and GS Group may be deemed to  beneficially  own indirectly in
the  aggregate  10,570,979  shares of Class C Common  Stock  through the Limited
Partnerships.  Goldman  Sachs is the  investment  manager of one of the  Limited
Partnerships.  The shares of Class C Common Stock reported  herein as indirectly
beneficially owned are owned by the Limited  Partnerships.  The Reporting Person
disclaims  beneficial  ownership of the securities reported herein except to the
extent of his pecuniary interest therein, if any.


By:  s/ Roger S. Begelman                                       June 10, 2002
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      **Signature of Reporting Person                             Date
              Attorney-in-fact


**     Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal
       Criminal Violations.

       See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).

Note:  File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed.
       If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedures.


       Alternatively,   this  Form  is  permitted  to  be  submitted  to  the
       Commission in electronic  format at the option of the reporting person
       pursuant to Rule 101(b)(4) of Regulation S-T.