Lacoste S.A.

History

Early years

In 1923, an American journalist from Boston began to nickname 19-year-old tennis prodigy René Lacoste, "the Crocodile", as to reflect his ferocious on-court determination whilst subtly referring to an unusual bet that Lacoste made to his team captain Allan Muhr, that he must buy him a crocodile-skinned suitcase if he wins the next match.

The bet was lost but the nickname stayed, and in 1927 American stylist Robert George depicted drawings and sketches of crocodiles to his friend Lacoste, who then embroidered one of them to his white blazer that he wore before every match.

In 1933 Lacoste began to brand clothing as La Chemise Lacoste with André Gillier, the owner and president of the largest French knitwear manufacturing firm at the time. They began to produce the revolutionary polo Lacoste 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 appearing on a sport clothing.

Expansion to the U.S. market

Starting in the 1950s, Izod produced clothing known as Izod Lacoste under exclusive license for sale in the U.S. market. The partnership ended in 1993 when Lacoste regained control of its U.S. rights to market its own brand. In 1977, Le Tigre was founded in an attempt to directly compete with Lacoste in the U.S. market, selling a similar array of clothing, but featuring a tiger in place of the signature Lacoste crocodile.

Christophe Lemaire, 2001–2010

In 2001, French designer Christophe Lemaire was 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 players Andy Roddick and John Isner, French veteran Richard Gasquet, and Swiss Olympic gold medalist Stanislas Wawrinka. Lacoste had also begun to increase its presence in the golf world, where noted two-time Masters Tournament champion José María Olazábal and Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie have 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.

Lacoste licensed its trademark to various companies. Devanlay long owned the exclusive worldwide clothing license, though today Lacoste Polo Shirts are also manufactured under licence in Thailand by ICC and also in China. The brand had entered into agreements with Pentland Group to produce Lacoste footwear; with Coty Inc. to produce fragrance; with Samsonite to produce luggage (2001–2009); and CEMALAC held the license to produce Lacoste bags and small leather goods.

In June 2007, Lacoste introduced their e-commerce site for the U.S. market. In 2009, Hayden Christensen became the face of the Challenge fragrance for men.

Brand management

In the early 1950s, Bernard Lacoste teamed up with David Crystal, who at the time owned Izod, to produce Izod Lacoste clothing. 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 to Van 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.

Lacoste was involved in a long-standing dispute over its logo with Hong Kong–based sportswear company Crocodile 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's Crocodile International. The Supreme Court of the Philippines released 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 of free market.

Controversies

Environmental practices

In July 2011, Lacoste, along with other major fashion and sportswear brands including Nike, Adidas and Abercrombie & Fitch, was the subject of Dirty Laundry, a report by the environmental group Greenpeace. According to the findings of the report, Lacoste was accused of working with suppliers in China which contribute to the pollution of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers. Samples taken from one facility belonging to the Youngor Group located on the Yangtze River Delta and another belonging to the Well Dyeing Factory Ltd. located on a tributary of the Pearl River Delta revealed the presence of hazardous and persistent hormone disruptor chemicals, including alkylphenols, perfluorinated compounds and perfluorooctane sulfonate.

Censorship of Palestinian art

In December 2011, Lacoste was accused of censoring the work of Palestinian artist Larissa 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 the Musée de l'Élysée in Lausanne, 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 to UNESCO". In this work Sansour imagines the state contained within a single skyscraper, with each floor representing a replica of "lost cities" including Jerusalem, Ramallah and Sansour's own hometown of Bethlehem.

A month before the selection jury was to meet to choose the winner, however, the Musée de l'Élysée informed 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, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute accused at least 82 major brands, including Lacoste, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang. Later that July, Lacoste agreed to cease all activity with its suppliers and subcontractors in Xinjiang.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Lacoste has faced criticism for continuing its business operations in Russia after the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. According to Leave Russia and an investigation by Economic Truth, Lacoste has not suspended its activities in the Russian market, drawing condemnation from advocacy groups and human rights organizations. Critics argue that by maintaining its presence in Russia, Lacoste risks indirectly supporting the Russian economy, potentially undermining global sanctions aimed at pressuring the Kremlin to end its aggression against Ukraine.