With its recent sneaker collections, Lacoste has subtly transgressed the bounds of a once prestigious and traditional prep echelon and has settled for the more inelegant consumer. The Lacoste Stealth and the Niseko are recent examples of a cheap attempt to appeal to hype-beasts, sneaker freaks, and Supreme-lovers who only care about the latest trends in spite of quality, passion, and authenticity. Typical of any successful fashion house that attempts to branch out and venture into other markets, it may be a smart business move but nonetheless renders the brand less appealing and less exclusive.
As chic and artsy as Lacoste may seem today, few people know about it’s collaborations during the 70s with IZOD. Vintage aficionados would immediately perceive the value in one of the ancient IZOD/Lacoste pique polos, slimmer and fitted, some without vents. All these IZOD/Lacoste produced in the 70s were also manufactured in America. The American faux-franco brand Le Tigre sprung up during the 70s too with the sole intention of directly competing with Lacoste. For Le Tigre, the iconic Lacoste crocodile was replaced with a leaping tiger, quite similar to the Singapore’s topical rub – Tiger Balm. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Once the partnership was over in 1993, Lacoste gained exclusive rights to distribute products under its own brand and thus continued to market its products for upper-class markets, while IZOD decided to remain content with distributors such as Marshall’s and T.J.Maxx.
A few decades after Lacoste was founded, Englishman Fred Perry (inventor of the sweatband) launched his clothing brand with a similar tennis-themed prep image, now famous for its laurel logo and pique polos. Fred Perry is now under a Japanese company, explaining the wack styles lately. No hate though to the Japanese who revived the selvedge denim and loopwheeler French Terry. But once J. Crew and Uniqlo start producing the former, and Nike collaborating with the latter, they’re gradually being mass-marketed and soon we’ll be musing over other pathetic details that the fashion industry manages to hype up.