Spanish language

Spanish (ⁱ/ˈspænɪʃ/, español), also called Castilian (ⁱ/kæˈstɪliən/,  castellano ), is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and today has hundreds of millions of native-speakers across the world.

Spanish is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages, which evolved from several dialects of common Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. It was first documented in central-northern Iberia in the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia. Beginning in the early 16th century, Spanish was taken to the colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania and the Philippines.

From its beginnings, Spanish vocabulary was influenced by its contact with Basque, as well as by neighboring Ibero-Romance languages, and later it absorbed many Arabic words during the Al-Andalus era in the Iberian Peninsula. It also adopted words from non-Iberian languages, particularly the Romance languages Occitan, French, Italian and Sardinian, as well as from Nahuatl and other Indigenous languages of the Americas.

Nacho Figueras

Ignacio "Nacho" Figueras (born March 4, 1977) is an Argentine polo player. As of September 2009, he is ranked as one of the top 100 polo players in the world. Sometimes called the "David Beckham of polo", he usually plays in Argentina and in the U.S. as part of the Black Watch Polo Team. He has also been the face of Ralph Lauren's Black Label line since 2005, and was recently chosen to represent the entire line of Polo fragrances.

In 2015, models.com ranked him in the top eighteen of their Money Men

Polo

Figueras began playing polo at the age of 9. He turned pro at 17, playing at various locations in Europe before arriving in Bridgehampton, New York in 1999. There, he joined White Birch, a team shared at the time by Peter Brant and Neil Hirsch. He currently plays for and is captain of BlackWatch, a team he co-owns with Hirsch.

Modeling

When he was approached by the photographer Bruce Weber 12 years ago, at a dinner party held by Kelly Klein, ex-wife of Calvin, in The Hamptons, he hoped modelling might help him buy more squirrelly mounts. "Then I realised that I could make extra money, and raise awareness of the sport." Nacho started modelling for Ralph Lauren in 2000, eventually become the face of Ralph Lauren Black Label in 2005, and has been under contract since. In May 2009, he was made the face of the World of Polo fragrances, including Polo Black, Polo Blue and Polo Modern Reserve.Black Watch is also a label under the Ralph Lauren umbrella, offering tight polo shirts emblazoned with Nacho's number 2, an idea of Figueras' to make it a billion-dollar brand.

Ralph Lauren

Ralph Lauren (/ˈlɔːrən/; born Ralph Lifshitz; October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and business executive, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation clothing company, a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise. He has also become well known for his collection of rare automobiles, some of which have been displayed in museum exhibits. Lauren stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of the company in September 2015 but remains its Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer.

In 2010, Lauren was declared Chevalier de la Legion d'honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. As of January 2015, Forbes estimates his wealth at $8 billion, which makes Ralph Lauren the 155th richest person in the world.

Early life and education

Ralph Lauren was born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx, New York City, to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, Fraydl (née Kotlar) and Frank Lifshitz, a house painter, from Pinsk, Belarus.

Lauren attended day school followed by MTA (now known as the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy), before eventually graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1957. He has said he had had heroes such as John F. Kennedy and James Stewart, hoping to acquire a "movie star" type of personality. In MTA Lauren was known by his classmates for selling ties to his fellow students. In a later interview about his early ambitions he referred to his Clinton yearbook, in which it stated under his picture that he wanted to be a millionaire. There has been a lot of debate over the correct pronunciation of the designers name. His niece Jenny Lauren clarifies this issue on her website. She states that Lauren is pronounced as Italian actress Sophia Loren [lo-wren]. However, according to the Journal Sentinel, a Polo Ralph Lauren representative wrote that the correct pronunciation is as in the first name 'Lauren', and not as in the last name 'Loren'.