Nacho Figueras Love of the Game
He’s been called the Brad Pitt of polo. But if you ask Ignacio “Nacho” Figueras, he’d sooner liken himself to Tiger Woods. Like Tiger, Nacho is a superstar athlete who’s at the top of his game…and he’s no stranger to the camera.
In 2005, Ralph Lauren named Nacho the face of the Black Label line, and later, the fashion icon became the sponsor of Nacho’s Argentinean polo team, BlackWatch.
“I was very lucky to meet Ralph Lauren maybe in the year 2000. He thought, at the time, that it would be great to have the actual polo player be in the ad,” Nacho says. “It has been an honor to work with him, and he has given me the opportunity of giving the world more of an idea of what my sport is all about, which is one [of] my missions in life.”
While polo is wildly popular in many countries, some Americans still think of it as an elitist sport. It is, after all, known as the “sport of kings.” But, if Nacho is any indication, you don’t have to be rich or royal to play.
As a boy in Buenos Aires, Nacho grew up in middle-class family and began playing polo when he was just 8 years old. “I’m a regular guy from Argentina,” he says. “I’m here with you guys today because I’m a polo player.”
