Lacoste

Lacoste is a French apparel company founded in 1933 that sells high-end clothing, footwear, perfume, leather goods, watches, and eyewear, and most famously tennis shirts. The company is easily recognized by its green crocodile logo. more...

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History

René Lacoste was a famous French tennis player who obtained fame in two areas: tennis and fashion. While winning the 1926 U.S. Open championship, Rene Lacoste of France wore something that he himself had created: a white, short-sleeve shirt made exclusively of a light knitted fabric called ‘jersey petit piqué’ that served to wick away moisture due to heat, the very first version of performance clothing in sports. The shirt was a radical departure from tennis fashion of the day, which called for stiff, woven, long-sleeve oxfords. In 1927 during the Davis Cup, the American press nicknamed Lacoste "the Alligator" because of a bet made about an alligator-skin suitcase. With no cognate in his native tongue, the nickname was changed to le crocodile in French. The nickname stuck due to his tenacious behavior on the courts, never giving up his prey. Lacoste’s friend, Robert Geore, drew him a crocodile which Lacoste then embroidered on the blazer he wore on the courts.

After retiring from tennis, Lacoste founded La Societe Chemise Lacoste in 1933 with André Gillier, the owner and President of the largest French knitwear manufacturing firm at the time. They began to produce the revolutionary tennis shirt Lacoste had designed and worn on the tennis courts with the crocodile appliqué embroidered on the chest, serving as the first example of a brand name appearing on the outside of an article of clothing. In addition to tennis shirts, Lacoste produced shirts for golf and sailing. In 1951, the company began to expand as it branched from "tennis white" and introduced color shirts. In 1952 the shirts were exported to the United States and advertised as "the status symbol of the competent sportsman", influencing the clothing choices of the upper-class.

In 1963, Bernard Lacoste took over the management of the company from his father René. Significant company growth was seen under Bernard's management. When he became president, around three hundred thousand Lacoste products were sold annually. The Lacoste brand reached its height of popularity in the US during the 1970s when the tennis shirt became an essential of the preppy wardrobe, even getting mentioned in Lisa Birnbach's Official Preppy Handbook of 1980. The company also began to introduce other products into their line including shorts, perfume, optical and sunglasses, tennis shoes, deck shoes, walking shoes, watches, and various leather goods.

In the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, Izod and Lacoste were often used interchangeably because starting in the 1950s, Izod produced clothing known as Izod lacoste under license for sale in the U.S. This partnership ended in 1993, when Lacoste regained exclusive U.S. rights to distribute shirts under its own brand. It was also in the 80's when Le Tigre Clothing came around. It was said to be the American alternative to the French brand.

Read more at Wikipedia.org