Lacoste Polo Shirts

Facts from the Crocodile’s mouth
The name ‘Lacoste’ is a brand that enjoys immediate and worldwide recognition, and therefore needs no introduction. However, it’s not only the easily identified, embroidered ‘Crocodile’ logo that propelled the Lacoste brand to dizzy, heights, but the unique, original, Lacoste Polo Shirts, that made Lacoste one of the most popular brands in casual, sportswear.

In the early years of amateur and professional tennis, particularly during the onset of the 20th century, tennis apparel was rather stiff and formal. The typical men’s outfit consisted of white, buttoned-up long-sleeved, Oxford shirts, with white full-length, trousers. White was the color of choice, as it reflected light and heat better than dark or colored material and was therefore perceived to be more comfortable.

Being a professional, tennis player and champion himself, Rene Lacoste found the formal tennis wear both uncomfortable, and a hindrance during on-court play. Rene tinkered with the idea of creating a white short-sleeved, shirt woven from loosely-knit cotton, which featured a longer tail and an open, soft flat collar. Rene Lacoste wore one of his Lacoste Polo Shirts during the 1926 US Open Tennis Championship which raised many an eyebrow.

Dubbed ‘The Alligator’ by the US press, Lacoste went ahead undeterred, and sometime during 1927, he added the now, world-famous embroidered ‘Crocodile’ emblem on the front, upper left part of his Lacoste Polo shirts. As professional records suggest, the ‘Crocodile’ emblem that Lacoste stitched on the front of his shirts was in response to the ‘Alligator’ title given to him by the American press in 1926. Thus was born the famous Lacoste Polo Shirts.

In 1929, Rene Lacoste retired from professional tennis, but little did he know that he would soon be breaking into the budding, French fashion industry at the time. Following the spectacular, success of his Lacoste Polo Shirts, and their subsequent demand and use by both amateur and professional, Tennis players in Europe, the Lacoste Polo Shirts found new admirers, specifically, Polo players.

The unprecedented, demand for his Lacoste Polo Shirts, compelled Rene Lacoste to join hands with good friend, Andre Gillier – President of the largest, knitwear manufacturing company in France, in 1933. The new company they formed began mass production of the white, Lacoste Polo Shirts. The ‘Crocodile’ emblem was, of course, proudly retained, and has been the highly distinguishing feature of Lacoste Polo Shirts ever since.

With the game of Polo both played and viewed by people in the higher echelons of society, the demand for upper-body garment grew tremendously. As a result, even non-Polo players and people in the upper class began to wear upper-body garment to express their style and taste. In fact, people in this segment, as well as others, considered upper-body garmentn as status symbols, a perception that continues even today.

1951 saw the launch of the now famous, Lacoste Polo Shirts in self-colored, versions, and once again, the worldwide response to the new, line was spectacular. The Lacoste fashion line was further expanded with the introduction of sweaters, hats and shoes, during the 1960s.

From tennis champion to creator of one of the most recognized, lifestyle brands in the world, Rene Lacoste’s dream lives on … in that friendly, “Crocodile” on Lacoste Polo Shirts.