Today, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who hasn’t heard of Lacoste and seen Lacoste polo shirts before. Founded in 1933 by a French tennis player named René Lacoste, the brand has grown to become unarguably one of the most famous and well-known in the world.
It is interesting to learn more about the history of Lacoste’s iconic logo. Story has it that René Lacoste picked up the nickname “the Alligator”When rumors started to circulate that the French Davis Cup Team Captain had bet him on an alligator-skin suitcase, it was revealed. Official company statements from the site state that the captain of France’s Davis Cup Team promised to give him an alligator-skin suitcase if the team won a critical match. The American media gave him the nickname after he won and the news was published. Shortly after, the nickname was changed. “Le Crocodile”Rene was of French descent and his aggressive tennis playing style stayed the same. Robert George was a friend who later designed Rene a tiny crocodile logo that Rene attached to the jacket he wore during tennis.
When he retired from tennis in 1933, Lacoste partnered with André Gillier and started up the company La Chemise Lacoste. The design of a tennis shirt was based on the product and design created by Lacoste in the middle 1920s. It was short-sleeved and had a collar with ridged. The shirt, which was designed to be worn in matches, was made of a lightweight woven fabric called jersey petit piique. It allows maximum ventilation. These new shirts were almost unheard-of because tennis players used to wear long-sleeved woven shirt. A side note to this is the fact that Lacoste attached the logo to the shirt’s outside, contrary to the fashion trend at the time. This was something very rare. The Lacoste Polo shirt was born. It has become a standard to wear clothing that features the logo on the outside.
The brand gained popularity from the 1930’s through the 1950’s. In the early 1950s Lacoste clothes were imported into the United States. It was regarded as an exclusive clothing line for the wealthy. Lacoste clothing began offering more styles of shirt and later added fashion accessories. Christopher Lemaire (a French designer) took control of Lacoste’s design in 2000 to give it a modern, sophisticated look. Lacoste apparel became very popular and is available at almost every high-end department store. It also operates a chain of shops and owns several hundred outlets around the globe. Lacoste has many different apparel options, including sunglasses and hats. Most famous, and probably the most iconic of all, is undoubtedly the Lacoste Polo shirt.