Fashion
01 January 1970

Lacoste: The legendary crocodile and its hundred-year-old claws

by Eugénie Rousak


Boldness. This term is probably the most appropriate to describe the alligator brand. First came the audacity of teenager René Lacoste to go against his father’s aspirations and start a sports career, then the audacity of tennis player René Lacoste to revolutionize the codes of the clay court, and finally the audacity of French designer René Lacoste to design sportswear to take him out of sports. This is the story of the alligator brand.

The last of the “Four Musketeers”.

While his father Jean-Jules Lacoste, a high-ranking figure in the automotive industry, predestined his son to attend the Polytechnique, René made a courageous decision to follow a different path. The culprit? A tennis racket given to the young Parisian a few years earlier, when he was 14 years old. Since then, the teenager has been swearing by the court and its yellow balls, finally white at the time, even though he has neither the necessary build nor the playing experience. Little convinced by this career outlook, Jean-Jules Lacoste made a pact with his son: five years to demonstrate notable results on clay courts. Is René going to achieve this feat in such a short time in a sport that requires a great deal of preparation and training? The answer is yes. Will he surpass any expected results? Also yes! During the 1920s, he won three French Open victories, two U.S. Open victories and two Davis Cup titles. He was then part of the “Four Musketeers”, along with Jean Borotra, Henri Cochet and Jacques Brugnon. The list of merits of the Lacoste tennis player is long, yet it is not his sporting career that is associated with his family name. Very talented, the young Frenchman also had a very visionary side and an innovative outlook, which pushed him to perfect his everyday equipment.

He improves the vibrations of the rackets with a paddle, rolls up its sleeve for more adhesion and revolutionizes tennis by replacing wooden rackets with steel! It completely rethinks the tennis player’s outfit, which at the time was worn in a social gathering as well as on the court. René Lacoste banned long pants and shirts from his wardrobe, adopting a look that was both more practical and controversial for that era: shorts and what would be called a polo shirt today. Taking his inspiration from polo players’ outfits, he made his ideal model by keeping the sleeves short, adding a collar and ribbed edges, and making it all in a soft and airy fabric, which is none other than small piqué jersey knit. This clothing had a ball effect sent at 200km/h. If it is strongly criticized, players are gradually beginning to adopt it, seduced by its side both elegant and practical. In the air of time. This fashion effect did not go unnoticed and René Lacoste decided to accentuate the trend by founding the brand in his name with his friend and French hosiery specialist André Gillier. Thus, in 1933 the company La Chemise Lacoste was registered, destined to revolutionize the sportswear industry.

Between luxury and rap

Resolutely a sports brand, the first pieces are without great surprise white shirts, nebulously named L.12.12.: “L” for Lacoste, 1 for the light material, 2 a reference to short sleeves and 12 is the prototype number that was finally chosen. Moreover, a small greenish crocodile quickly appeared on the garment. This usual detail for our eyes, was a novelty for the industry in the 30’s, as designers usually hid their logos inside the garments. The addiction to the shirt is quickly contagious and the alligator invites itself in other high-end sports, seducing more and more the bourgeois and aristocratic classes by the quality of the manufacturing and the iconic model. The polo shirt is propelled to the summit of covetousness and deviates an icon of prosperity and elegance. But it will be necessary to wait until the 50s for a drastic expansion of the range with an explosion first in 65 colors, then in striped variations. The Lacoste day-to-day wear machine is launched!

After this successful first set, the brand has been playing a series of matches: diversification of lines, creation of accessories, appearance of shoes and perfumes, and above all an international adventure! Resolutely more urban, the brand is leaving its favorite court, but will quickly meet the same fate as Burberry in this court of the big boys. While it was targeting a sporting and preppy clientele, Lacoste had to deal with the craze for crocodile on the other side of the tracks, fuelled by rappers and their fans. And it’s a one-way love. The brand is trying to regain its historic clientele and redecorate its lawn. All the techniques are good. From price increases to presence at Fashion Weeks to seducing a younger female clientele, all strategies are tested. Paradoxically, these old late 20th century arguments will surprisingly not lead to a divorce, but to a 21st century marriage, symbolically celebrated by a collaboration between the brand and the rapper Moha La Squale! But let’s not go too fast!

After this successful first set, the brand has been playing a series of matches: diversification of lines, creation of accessories, appearance of shoes and perfumes, and above all an international adventure! Resolutely more urban, the brand is leaving its favorite court, but will quickly meet the same fate as Burberry in this court of the big boys. While it was targeting a sporting and preppy clientele, Lacoste had to deal with the craze for crocodile on the other side of the tracks, fuelled by rappers and their fans. And it’s a one-way love. The brand is trying to regain its historic clientele and redecorate its lawn. All the techniques are good. From price increases to presence at Fashion Weeks to seducing a younger female clientele, all strategies are tested. Paradoxically, these old late 20th century arguments will surprisingly not lead to a divorce, but to a 21st century marriage, symbolically celebrated by a collaboration between the brand and the rapper Moha La Squale! But let’s not go too fast!

Today, it is Louise Trotter who holds the reins of the alligator to guide it towards a controlled minimalism, going back to the bourgeois athleticism code so dear to René Lacoste. For the fall-winter 2020-2021 collection, the designer has elegantly combined emblematic colors such as white and green with beige and ochre clay references for a deliberately autumnal range. This blend of historical codes with modernity was also used in the choice of pieces, with traditional knits and jerseys being replaced by flannel and neoprene.

©Lacoste, Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

In the claws of the alligator

While Lacoste’s collections proudly feature an alligator’s logo, the anecdotal story behind it takes us back to the active years of tennis player René. As he wanders the streets of Boston with his captain Pierre Gillou, his gaze falls on a magnificent crocodile briefcase. A bet is quickly made: if the tennis player wins the afternoon match, Pierre Gillou will offer him this exceptional object. During the match, the player will talk about it to journalists, who will now call him “alligator”. Perhaps also a nice reference to his style of play, which consisted in sending the balls back until the first foul of the opponent, like a crocodile waiting for its prey to exhaust itself.

To mark this episode, Robert George designed a prototype crocodile, which René Lacoste will now have embroidered on his clothes. And the match? Ah, he will have lost it.

The 20th century saw the birth of Christian Dior’s New Look, the silhouette in black dress by Coco Chanel and the man in white with short sleeves on the tennis court, signed René Lacoste. Since then, the brand’s silhouette has been modernized and colorful, but the crocodile continues to watch for new collections.

Trainers, Lacoste

Cap, Lacoste

Women’s shorts, Lacoste

Mask, Lacoste

Women’s perfume, Lacoste

Men’s polo shirt, Lacoste

Women’s handbag, Lacoste

Long coat, Lacoste