Let’s take a look at 10 interesting facts you (Probably) didn’t know about Lacoste.

1. René Lacoste Was A World Leading Tennis Player

René Lacoste was one of the greatest tennis players out there. Back in ’25 – ’29, René Lacoste won a series of Grand Slams and squashed his competition with 5 victories at the French Internationals, 3 wins at Wimbledon and 2 victories at the U.S. Championship gaining him the heralded No. 1 spot in 1926 & ’27.

2. The Crocodile Came From A Bet

Back in ’23 René seen a crocodile skin briefcase in a shop window in Boston that he wanted, he created a bet with his Tennis coach that if he won a match later that evening he would receive it. Sadly he lost the match, but it didn’t stop an American Reporter giving him the Nickname ‘The Alligator’. When he returned to France that name changed to what you see today, the Crocodile.

3. The Original Logo Was Created By Robert George

In 1927 Robert George brought the Crocodile to life with his detailed illustration which was later simplified for the Polo Shirts. In years to come, he had a capsule released in his name as a sign of respect and appreciation.

4. The Logo Was One Of The First Garments To Feature Branding Out The Outside

That’s right, Lacoste was one of the first brands to feature a logo on its garments, 2nd only to Jantzen Swimwear who featured the diving woman on their cap and swimsuit. Lacoste paved the way for fashion with their bold logo design giving an instantly recognised brand appeal.

5. They Didn’t Introduce Alternative Colours For Nearly 30 Years

For nearly 30 years Lacoste only produced the White Polo shirt, they introduced newer colours to appeal to an upper-class market. To be fair though, the White Polo Shirt with the Green Crocodile badge is still a timeless look over 80 years later, so you can’t really blame them for focusing on it.

6. They Had Legal Issues With An Asian Company About The Crocodile Design

The Singaporean brand ‘Crocodile Company’ had battled with Lacoste for countless years about who owned the rights to the crocodile logo. After a huge battle in court Crocodile company agreed to modify their logo with larger eyes and a vertical tail amongst a few other tweaks.

 

7. Lacoste Live! Was Created To Attract Younger Audiences

With the introduction of Felipe Oliveira Baptista in 2010, the brand switched their values up and introduced the Live! Collection in 2011, it was designed to appeal to the younger market, to this day the Live! collection has been well received with collaborations with streetwear labels such as Supreme, and even well respected Japanese labels such as Beams & Junya Watanabe. Considering Lacoste always had the ‘preppy’ sort of aesthetic they have definitely cemented themselves into the streetwear game.

8. They Temporarily Changed Their Logo In 2018

It’s not every day a huge label changes their logo completely, it’s like Nike getting rid of the swoosh. But they had a great reason behind the change, they did it to raise awareness and money to help conservation programs to protect the worlds most endangered animals. Ranging from the Burmese Roofed Turtle to the Northern Sportive Lemur, the animals on the shirts are all on the brink of species-wide extinction. So they replaced the iconic Crocodile badge and replaced them with 10 different animals, each design had a limited run of Polo’s produced that corresponded with the remaining population of each animal. The collaboration was dubbed ‘Savethespecies’ and shows the brands passion for respecting the environment and life, other brands should take note.

9. Peter Saville Destroyed The Crocodile

Well not literally obviously. Working with Calvin Klein, Kanye West & even his home city of Manchester, Saville was given the task to redesign the brand with one condition, “Don’t touch the crocodile’, being an avant-garde artist he decided not to follow this crucial instruction and ripped the crocodile to pieces, 80 to be precise. This led to a collection of 40 different designs being crafted for a creative and fresh way to see the crocodile in a deconstructed manner.

10. They Produce Tennis Rackets

I know it’s a shock to think that a company made by one of the best Tennis players in the world makes Tennis Rackets, but I bet you didn’t know that Rene Lacoste invented the first ever steel racket!? He was an innovator and a futurist who wanted to create and invent, and so he did.