Your favorite crocodile turns 80!

Last Oct. 16, members of the press as well as tastemakers and influencers from all over Asia, partied the night away at the swanky Beijing 198 Art District to celebrate top sportswear brand Lacoste’s 80th birthday. Over bubbly, live DJ sets, and an exhibit that showcased both Lacoste’s collaboration with nine different maisons Françaises, as well as its Holiday Collector polo series designed by British art director Peter Saville, we gushed at the thoughtfulness and joie de vivre that went into the making of each of these items. Sealed in glass containers, they seemed like precious artifacts, put together with the utmost craftsmanship. The gifts, as well as the limited-edition polo shirts, were proof that while the crocodile maybe getting on in years, it is certainly without a wrinkle.

I have always prided myself in being a Lacoste baby growing up. The famous polo shirt with a crocodile logo is one that easily connected with my sartorial sensibilities all throughout high school, and even as I set foot into college and the real world. I was always a preppy kid. I sat right next to the Ateneo’s conyo bench and Lacoste became like my uniform. You will remember that the classic polo shirt earned a nod in that Official Preppy Handbook of the ’80s, which made the brand not just synonymous to sporting but with the preppy lifestyle as well.

Family history

“I think we suited well with the times,” shared Philippe Lacoste, grandson of founder René Lacoste in an exclusive interview with The STAR. “I think the preppy lifestyle was part of this whole social change.” What happened in Europe then, as well as the United States after World War II, was that there was this desire to “have fun, to have leisure, to do things which was part of the preppy lifestyle.” In the East Coast, there was the Ivy League. In New York, there was Andy Warhol and the huge parties. “I was speaking with a friend of mine who was in New York that time and he said he would wear Lacoste. It was a competition on who would have the most special color.” The ease by which the polo shirt falls on the wearer, as well as its spiffiness, is reason why everyone from celebrities like Adrien Brody to athletes like Gustavo Kuerten have championed the brand (and the Crocodile) over the years.

“The funny thing is that it’s a family company but it’s also a brand that corresponded to our lifestyle,” said Philippe. “My grandfather was a tennis player, my grandmother was a golfer, and our family owns a golf course.” Executive vice president for branding and communications Berta de Pablos-Barbier added that what most people don’t know about the brand is that not only was its founder responsible for the first polo shirt ever created but that René Lacoste was also the man behind the metallic tennis racket, the tennis grip, and the ball-launching machine.

“I would like us to be better at telling the brand’s heritage,” she said, highlighting how important it is to flesh out Lacoste’s 80-year history as they look forward to 100. “We can be better at shouting, well, nicely and elegantly who we are and the things people don’t know about us.” After all, the retail landscape has changed drastically from when the brand first started many years back.

All in the family

“The values of the brand are the values of my family,” continued Philippe who credited team spirit, fair play, and having a certain element of fun as being the core values handed down from his grandfather’s generation to his. “Often, people associate Lacoste with happy memories. It’s about leisure. It’s about fun. People would always tell me, ‘When I was little, my father would always wear a Lacoste shirt while playing tennis.’ It shows you that it’s more than just my family, it’s the stories of the people who have encountered the brand.”

Berta was one of those people whose lives were touched by the Crocodile. She joined Lacoste in 2012 because “it’s one of those brands I came across as a child. My parents played tennis.” She’d see the crocodile from the ’70s, and her interest in both tennis (eventually golf) and fashion was something that synergized with this label that was never oblivious of its sporting past. Elegance, joy of life, authenticity, the sporting spirit, and innovation are words she used to describe Lacoste, emphasizing, “Elegance is not just in dressing but also in the mind. It’s also about respecting others. It’s about having a positive outlook in life. Being true to yourself, and respecting the game, as well as being an innovator.” That the sporting lifestyle is encoded in Lacoste’s DNA is something that Berta — as well as Philippe — hopes to uphold as it moves forward into the digital age.

The Maisons Françaises

When you think of birthdays, it’s only natural to have presents — lots of it. It is for this reason that Lacoste invited nine different maisons Françaises, or French houses, to their party and collaborate with each of them on a special item that would represent both brands and tie into Lacoste’s indefatigable sporting heritage. “There were three main considerations in deciding which maisons Françaises were invited,” Berta shared.  First, they had to be French. Second, they had to have a craftsmanship that was differentiated. “Each one should have its own specialty and their own savoir faire.” And third, they had to have some connection with Lacoste’s history.

Philippe talked about the special Boucheron brooch and how his grandmother used to have one as gifted by his grandfather. The updated version is encrusted with diamonds and emeralds, drawing upon Boucheron’s ability to reflect past history as well as to encapsulate the spirit of the times. “As for Hermés, my uncle Bernard was best-friends with the chairman and CEO. He would always say that Lacoste was the Hérmes of sport.” In the 1920s, Philippe’s grandfather René also made a bet with his team captain on whether he would win a match he was about to play. He was then given his nickname, “the Crocodile,” after the stakes of that bet — a suitcase made from crocodile skin. Soon after, the crocodile would be embroidered on the legendary polo shirt, and amazingly on the skin of the luxurious crocodile tennis bag. The other houses who gave finely-crafted gifts for Lacoste’s 80th birthday were Baccarat, Bernardaud, Christofle, Fauchon, Goyard, S.T. Dupont, and Veuve Clicquot.

Peter Saville and the Crazy Crocodiles

Quality of fabric and product are things that Philippe attributes to the success of the brand that his grandfather started many years ago. He said, “It’s very challenging because you have to be modest with what you achieved, and that what you’ve achieved is nothing.” He emphasized that what you achieve tomorrow is what is most important.

Collaborations like that of Lacoste with British art director Peter Saville is important because, in Philippe’s words, “it helps you gain a new perspective. It’s something fun. It’s something fresh. You have talent in a lot of places. But if you absorb it and use what’s happening in music, art, and design to try and stay fresh and up-to-date, then Lacoste will continue to grow.”

From the collaboration with Peter who once designed record sleeves for the likes of Joy Division and New Order, two collections will be available — the Holiday Collection series N°8 collection, a polo shirt for men and women, both in white with eight choices of “crazy crocodiles,” and a limited-edition shirt where only 80 of each design will be produced for men and women.

Blowing out the candles

When I asked Philippe if the brand that his grandfather started was anything like what the latter envisioned many years back, he said, “Of course not!” I don’t think René could have anticipated the dawning of Twitter and the Internet. “But will he be happy? Of course!” He says that his grandfather invented things all his life — the polo shirt, the tennis racket. “He even tried to invent a new tennis ball. So I think he would love these new ideas on the table. It shows things are always moving forward.”

At 80, Lacoste is certainly not showing any signs of slowing down.

* * *

In the Philippines, Lacoste is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists Inc.