Lacoste

This article is about the clothing company. For other uses, seeLacoste (disambiguation).

Not to be confused withIzodorIzod Lacoste.

Lacoste S.A.is a Frenchluxurysports fashion company, founded in 1933 bytennisplayerRené Lacoste,and entrepreneur André Gillier. It sellsclothing,footwear,sportswear,eyewear,leather goods,perfume,towelsandwatches.The company can be recognised by its green Crocodile logo.René Lacoste, the company's founder, was first given the nickname "the Crocodile" by the American press after he bet his team captain a crocodile-skin suitcase that he would win his match. He was later redubbed "the Crocodile" by French fans because of his tenacity on thetenniscourt.In November 2012, Lacoste was bought outright by Swiss family held groupMaus Frères.

Lacoste S.A.

Flagship store on theChamps-Élysées
Company type	Société anonyme
Industry	Fashion
Founded	1933(1933)
Founders	René Lacoste André Gillier
Headquarters	Troyes,France
Number of locations	1,100 (2023)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Didier Maus (Executive Chairman) Thierry Guibert (CEO) Louise Trotter (CCO)
Products	Clothing Footwear Fragrances Housewares
Revenue	US$2.69 billion(2022)
Number of employees	8,500 (2019)
Parent	Maus Frères
Website	https://www.lacoste.com/

History

René Lacoste foundedLa Chemise Lacostein 1933 with André Gillier, the owner and president of the largest Frenchknitwearmanufacturing firm at the time. They began to produce the revolutionarytennis shirtLacoste had designed and worn on the tennis courts with the crocodile logo embroidered on the chest. The company claims this as the first example of a brand name appearing on the outside of an article of clothing.Starting in the 1950s,Izodproduced clothing known asIzod Lacosteunder license for sale in the US. This partnership ended in 1993 when Lacoste regained exclusive U.S. rights to distribute shirts under its own brand. In 1977,Le Tigre Clothingwas founded in an attempt to directly compete with Lacoste in the US market, selling a similar array of clothing, but featuring a tiger in place of the signature Lacoste crocodile.

More recently, French designerChristophe Lemairewas hired to create a more modern, upscale look at Lacoste. In 2005, almost 50 million Lacoste products were sold in over 110 countries.Its visibility has increased due to the contracts between Lacoste and several tennis players, including former American tennis playersAndy RoddickandJohn Isner,French veteranRichard Gasquet,andSwissOlympic gold medalistStanislas Wawrinka.Lacoste had also begun to increase its presence in the golf world, where noted two-timeMasters TournamentchampionJosé María Olazábaland Scottish golferColin Montgomeriehave been seen sporting Lacoste shirts in tournaments.

Bernard Lacoste became seriously ill in early 2005, which led him to transfer the presidency of Lacoste to his younger brother and closest collaborator for many years, Michel Lacoste. Bernard died in Paris on 21 March 2006.

A Lacoste retail store in Delaware, United States

Lacoste licenses its trademark to various companies. Until recently, Devanlay owned the exclusive worldwide clothing license, though today Lacoste Polo Shirts are also manufactured under licence in Thailand by ICC and also in China.Pentland Grouphas the exclusive worldwide license to produce Lacoste footwear,Coty Inc.owns the exclusive worldwide license to produce fragrance, and CEMALAC holds the license to produce Lacoste bags and small leather goods.

In June 2007, Lacoste introduced theire-commercesite for the U.S. market.In 2009,Hayden Christensenbecame the face of the Challenge fragrance for men.In September 2010, Christophe Lemaire stepped down andFelipe Oliveira Baptistasucceeded him as the creative manager of Lacoste.

René Lacoste Foundation is a community program developed to help children be able to play sports in school. In March 2016, the company opened a new flagship store on Fashion Street inBudapest.

In 2017, tennis playerNovak Djokovicwas named brand ambassador and "the new crocodile" (next to Rene Lacoste) for Lacoste. This obligation includes a five-year contract as well as multiple appearances in advertising campaigns, and was extended by three years.

In September 2019, Lacoste appointed Chinese singer/actorZ.Taoas their brand spokesperson for Asia Pacific as the brand's first attempt at appointing someone for the region.In 2017, 2018, and 2019, Lacoste collaborated withSupremeto release a collection of co-branded clothing.

In 2018, Louise Trotter was appointed creative director of Lacoste. In January 2023, she left her position after a four-year tenure.

In late 2022, Lacoste signed a 15-year worldwide licensing agreement withInterparfumsand plans to launch a new perfume line in 2024, after wrapping up its previous relationship withCoty Inc.

In 2023, Pelagia Kolotouros became the creative design director of Lacoste.The same year, in December,Arthur Filsbecame the brand ambassador of Lacoste.

In 2024,Pierre Nineywas appointed as Lacoste's new brand ambassador.The same year,Wang Yibobecame the Global Ambassador of Lacoste.In June, Lacoste announced the launch of its new fragrance, Lacoste Original.

Brand management

Lacoste dress.

In the early 1950s,Bernard Lacosteteamed up with David Crystal, who at the time ownedIzod,to produceIzod Lacosteclothing. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was extremely popular with teenagers who called the shirts simply Izod. While the union was both profitable and popular, Izod Lacoste's parent company (Crystal Brands, Inc.) was saddled with debt from other business ventures. When attempts to separate Izod and Lacoste to create revenue did not alleviate the debt, Crystal sold his half of Lacoste back to the French and Izod was sold toVan Heusen.

However, starting in 2000, with the hiring of a new fashion designer Christophe Lemaire, Lacoste began to take over control of its brand name and logo, reining in their branding arrangements. Currently, Lacoste has once again returned to the elite status it held before abrand managementcrisis circa 1990.

Lacoste was involved in a long-standing dispute over its logo with Hong Kong–based sportswear companyCrocodile Garments.At the time, Lacoste used a crocodile logo that faced right (registered in France in 1933) while Crocodile used one that faced left (registered in various Asian countries in the 1940s and 1950s). Lacoste tried to block an application from Crocodile to register its logo in China during the 1990s, and the dispute ended in a settlement. As part of the agreement, Crocodile agreed to change its logo, which now sports scalier skin, bigger eyes and a tail that rises vertically.

Lacoste was involved in a 20-year legal battle over its logo with Singapore’sCrocodile InternationalTheSupreme Court of the Philippinesreleased a November 6, 2023 ruling stating that there was no confusing similarity between the two crocodile trademarks. In deciding in favor of Singapore’s Crocodile International Pte. Ltd. against Lacoste, the Court held that there is no evidence of fraud or public confusion, as it underscored the importance offree market.

Sponsorships

Tennis

Tennis superstarNovak Djokovic,who has captured the most grand slams of any player under Lacoste

Associations and Events

• Roland-Garros
• Miami Open

Professional Players

• Marc Polmans
• Grigor Dimitrov
• Roberto Bautista Agut
• Guillermo Garcia Lopez
• Albert Ramos-Viñolas
• Alizé Cornet(to 2018)
• Fiona Ferro
• Pierre-Hugues Herbert
• Ugo Humbert
• Nicolas Mahut
• Benoît Paire(to 2021)
• Arthur Rinderknech
• Arthur Fils
• Hyeon Chung
• Marius Copil
• Daniil Medvedev
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
• Elena Vesnina(to 2017)
• Novak Djokovic
• Filip Krajinović
• Jil Teichmann(to 2023)
• Latisha Chan
• Chan Hao-ching
• Pablo Cuevas
• Denis Kudla
• Bernarda Pera

Retired players

• Pablo Andujar
• Anett Kontaveit
• Julien Benneteau
• Jérémy Chardy
• Dominika Cibulková
• Kristie Ahn
• Christina McHale
• Martina Navratilova
• Andy Roddick
• Samantha Stosur(to 2012)

Golf

• Adri Arnaus
• Azahara Muños
• Céline Boutier
• Camille Chevalier
• Julien Guerrier
• Gregory Havret
• Benjamin Hébert
• Céline Herbin
• Raphael Jacquelin
• Robin Roussel
• Antoine Rozner

Source:

Retailers

Lacoste store inAventura,Florida,United States

Lacoste operates a large number of Lacosteboutiquesworldwide located as concessions in leading department stores and also as independent venue stores. In the United Kingdom, Lacoste is available from a variety of shops including,JD Sports,KJ Beckett andJohn Lewis Partnership.Likewise in the United States, the Lacoste brand can be found in stores such asSaks Fifth Avenue,Nordstrom,Lord & Taylor,Neiman Marcus,Bloomingdale's,Macy's,Belk,Halls,and other independent retailers. In Canada, Lacoste is sold atHarry Rosen,Hudson's Bay (retailer),its own boutiques, and other independent retailers. In Australia, it is sold atDavid Jones,andMyer.

Partnerships

A display inside the Lacoste store located inFifth Avenue,New York

In March 2022, Lacoste partnered with Mojang Studios, or Minecraft, to create a whole new series of apparel, called Lacoste x Minecraft. The crocodile logo will go pixelated in Аits Minecraft merch line, with lots of different varieties of the crocodile on polos, hoodies, and T-shirts.

Controversies

Environmental practices

In July 2011, Lacoste, along with other major fashion andsportswearbrands includingNike,AdidasandAbercrombie & Fitch,was the subject ofDirty Laundry,a report by the environmental groupGreenpeace.According to the findings of the report, Lacoste was accused of working with suppliers in China which contribute to the pollution of theYangtzeandPearl Rivers.Samples taken from one facility belonging to theYoungor Grouplocated on theYangtze River Deltaand another belonging to the Well Dyeing Factory Ltd. located on a tributary of thePearl River Deltarevealed the presence of hazardous and persistenthormone disruptorchemicals, includingalkylphenols,perfluorinated compoundsandperfluorooctane sulfonate.

Censorship of Palestinian art

In December 2011, Lacoste was accused of censoring the work of Palestinian artistLarissa Sansour.Sansour had initially been included on a shortlist of eight nominees for the prestigious Lacoste Élysée prize – a competition which had been organised by theMusée de l'ÉlyséeinLausanne,Switzerland, with Lacoste's sponsorship. Sansour's entry into the competition was entitled "Nation Estate",which involved a series of" dystopic sci-fi images based on Palestine's admission toUNESCO".In this work Sansour imagines the state contained within a single skyscraper, with each floor representing a replica of" lost cities "includingJerusalem,Ramallahand Sansour's own hometown ofBethlehem.

A month before the selection jury was to meet to choose the winner, however, theMusée de l'Élyséeinformed Sansour that Lacoste had changed its mind about including her work in the competition and asked the Museum to remove her as a nominee citing her work to be "too pro-Palestinian".Sansour soon went public with her story and within 48 hours the Musée de l'Élysée came out in her support announcing, in a press release,that it had decided to suspend its relationship with Lacoste as a sponsor of this prize due to its insistence on excluding Sansour from the competition. The museum emphasized that its decision to end the competition was in line with the organisation's 25 years of commitment to artistic freedom.

Lacoste's attempt to censor Sansour's work led to widespread international negative media reports on the company's actions and renewed discussions on the role of private sector companies in art sponsorships.

Xinjiang region

In March 2020, theAustralian Strategic Policy Instituteaccused at least 82 major brands, including Lacoste, of being connected to forcedUyghurlabor inXinjiang.Later that July, Lacoste agreed to cease all activity with its suppliers and subcontractors in Xinjiang.

See also

• Croc O' Shirt
• Crocodile Garments
• Izod
• Izod Lacoste
• Lacoste Essential (fragrance)
• Fred Perry
• Sergio Tacchini

External links

• Official website
• Lacoste– brand and company profile atFashion Model Directory