Product Code Database
Lacoste S.A. (; ) is a French designer sports fashion company, founded in 1933 by tennis player René Lacoste, and entrepreneur André Gillier. It sells clothing, footwear, sportswear, Glasses, leather, perfume, towels and watches. 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 the tennis court. In November 2012, Lacoste was bought outright by Swiss family held group Maus Frères.
More recently, 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 Switzerland 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 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 Group has 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 their e-commerce site for the U.S. market. In 2009, Hayden Christensen became the face of the Challenge fragrance for men. In September 2010, Christophe Lemaire stepped down and Felipe Oliveira Baptista succeeded 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 in Budapest.
In 2017, tennis player Novak Djokovic was 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/actor Huang Zitao as 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 with Supreme to 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.Lily Templeton (6 January 2023), Lacoste and Louise Trotter Part Ways Women's Wear Daily.
In late 2022, Lacoste signed a 15-year worldwide licensing agreement with Interparfums and plans to launch a new perfume line in 2024, after wrapping up its previous relationship with Coty Inc.Lily Templeton (6 January 2023), Lacoste and Louise Trotter Part Ways Women's Wear Daily.
In 2023, Pelagia Kolotouros became the creative design director of Lacoste. The same year, in December, Arthur Fils became the brand ambassador of Lacoste.
In 2024, Pierre Niney was appointed as Lacoste's new brand ambassador. The same year, Wang Yibo became the Global Ambassador of Lacoste. In June, Lacoste announced the launch of its new fragrance, Lacoste Original.
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 a brand management crisis circa 1990.
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.
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.
|
|
