The LACOSTE legend is born in 1933, when René Lacoste revolutionizes mens’ fashion replacing the classical woven fabric, long-sleeved and starched shirts on the courts, by what has now become the classic LACOSTE polo shirt. 75 years after its creation, LACOSTE has become a « lifestyle » brand which allies elegance and comfort. The LACOSTE art of living expresses itself today through a large collection of clothing for women, men and children, footwear, perfumes, leather goods, glasses, watches, belts and home textiles. LACOSTE founds its success on the essential values of authenticity, performance, and elegance. The crocodile incarnates today the elegance of the champion, René Lacoste, as well as of his wife Simone Lacoste and their daughter Catherine Lacoste, both also champions, in everyday life as on the tennis courts and golf courses.

The crocodile’s origins The true story of the “Crocodile” dates back to 1927:
"I was nicknamed "the Alligator" by the American press, after I made a bet with the Captain of the French DAVIS CUP Team concerning a suitcase made from alligator skin. He promised to buy it for me if I won a very important match for our team. The public must have been fond of this nickname which conveyed the tenacity I displayed on the tennis courts, never letting go of my prey!” (René Lacoste)

The creation of the LACOSTE polo shirt In 1927, René Lacoste designs and makes for his own personal use a batch of cotton shirts in a comfortable aired mesh which perfectly absorbs perspiration, in order to better support the heat on the American courts. This shirt immediately revolutionized men's sportswear, replacing the classical woven fabric, long-sleeved and starched shirts which players had worn on the courts until then. .The first LACOSTE shirt was white, slightly shorter than other shirts of the day, with a ribbed collar and short sleeves, and it was made of a light knitted fabric called “Jersey petit piqué”. In 1933, René LACOSTE and André GILLIER, the owner and chairman of France’s largest knitwear manufacturing firm at the time, set up a company to make the crocodile logo embroidered shirt and thus gives birth to the LACOSTE polo shirt. This was the first time that a brand name appeared on the outside of an article of clothing.