Lacoste Sporty Fashion

Lacoste - Sporty Fashion
By: James Philips

Lacoste is one of todays most popular label of fashion items. It is known throughout the world as a French apparel company that designs and markets a wide line of high end fragrances, clothing, footwear, tennis shirts, watches, eyewear, and leather goods. What is most noted about Lacoste is its green crocodile logo, aside from its high quality products and accessories.

Lacoste was founded in 1933 by a French tennis player named Rene Lacoste. He first introduced his own creation to the public when he wore his very own shirt in the 1926 U.S. Open Championship. His design was described by most reports as a white shirt featuring short sleeves made of a knitted fabric which he calls as the jersey petit pique. He described his jersey design as the very first light version of performance sports clothing.

Rene Lacoste was named The Alligator by the American Press since 1927. The reason behind this naming was the bet made about the use of a suitcase made of alligator skin. Rene actually wore his self created jersey in the 1927 Davis Cup, but without any related name available in his native language, he was then named as le crocodile in French.

The new nickname suited him for one reason Rene Lacoste showing his tenacious behavior while on the court. It was his friend, Robert Georges, who decided to create a logo for Rene, then drawing him a crocodile. That image was embroidered by Rene himself on one of his tennis blazers.

After retiring from the world of tennis, Rene established his fashion company in 1933 with the help of one of his successful friends, Andre Gillier. Gillier, at that time, was the president and owner of one of the Frances knitwear manufacturing companies. With their efforts, they started to create and distribute a line of tennis shirts that were revolutionary inspired. The crocodile logo is embroidered on the shirts chest, and this what considered by Rene Lacoste as the first model of his brand name. He also designed and manufactured shirts for the sailors and golfers, and it was in 1951 that he began producing colored sportswear.

In 1970, under the management of Renes son, Bernard Lacoste, the company started to produce a variety of other fashion items. Included in their lines are perfumes, sunglasses and eye glasses, shoes, watches, shorts, and leather-made items. All of which were able to establish a name in the fashion industry mainly for their high quality. The quality and style of these products were made even more stronger with the coming of Christophe Lemaire, a French designer who had been contributing his efforts and time in creating the best fashion lines of Lacoste. More than 50 million of Lacoste products were sold under his management, as reported.

Today, Michael Bernards brother and collaborator, manages Lacoste. The company has been licensing its trademark to a number of fashion and sports companies around the world, including the Pentland Brands and Samsonite. The main office is located in Paris, but they delegate their products internationally.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author:
James Philips is a staff memeber at