I just picked up a new Lacoste Original Polo Shirt with the new American Flag version of the Lacoste Crocodile Logo. I picked a black version with initials on the sleeve. On sale it was only $98. The shirt is also available with multiple country’s flags on the logo. Check it out at the Lacoste store.
Lacoste Pledges to Cut Forced Uighur Labor from Chinese Supply Chain
Earlier in the year, we reported on Lacoste being accused of using forced Uighur labor in China to produce gloves. Now, according to Glossy, Lacoste has joined Adidas in pledging to removed all forced Uighur labor from their Chinese supply chain:
On June 27, Lacoste became the second brand, following Adidas, to “agree to cease all activity with suppliers and subcontractors” implicated in a recent report exposing forced Uighur labor. The campaign, which was started by EU Parliament member Raphaël Glucksmann, is directed at 83 companies named to be directly or indirectly benefiting from forced labor based on a March 2020 report by the Australian government-funded think tank, the Australia Strategic Policy Institute. An estimated 1 to 2 million Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim group based primarily in China’s Xinjiang province, have been subject to mass detention in Xinjiang. Recent reports have stated that Uighur women are being subjected to compulsory sterilizations, abortions and birth control, a practice which Uighur exile groups say falls under the UN definition of genocide.
Lacoste has used Youngor Textile Holdings as a supplier, and that company has been accused of using forced labor. Read more at Glossy.
Chicago Sun Times Profiles Catherine Lacoste, the only amateur winner of the U.S. Women’s Open
The Chicago Sun Times has published a detailed profile of Catherine Lacoste, daughter of Rene Lacoste, and the only amateur winner of the U.S Women’s Open. In the piece, they note that “Lacoste came by the athletic ability honestly as the daughter of Rene Lacoste and Simone Thione de la Chaume, who won the 1927 British Ladies Amateur. She recalls being a 24-handicap as a 13-year-old, but her improvement after that was marked.”
When Lacoste came to play in 1967:
She “never thought in any way” that she would win the tournament that week, but someone else did.
“I think the only person who thought I might win the U.S. Open was my father because he’d won the U.S. Open in tennis and obviously he had the spirit to think, ‘Why can’t she do it in golf?”
Lacoste returned to the U.S. in 1968 to defend her Women’s Open title but finished 13th, 13 shots back. More impressive over the following year was her sheer dominance in women’s amateur golf. She was focused on getting better at match play by then, and from October 1968 to October 1969, she never lost a single match. Victories piled up, including at the Women’s Western Amateur, U.S. Women’s Amateur and British Ladies Amateur.
Read more of the profile at The Chicago Times.
British GQ Profiles Louise Trotter, Lacoste’s Creative Director
British GQ has come out with a lengthy interview with Louise Trotter, Lacoste’s current creative director. In the introduction, they discuss her initial two collections:
Where Trotter’s first collection for Lacoste, AW19, set her pared-back, fashioned-up intention for the brand, it’s really her SS20 collection, mounted back in September and is in stores now, that proved her acute understanding of what the label, which has seemed unsure of its footing in recent years, should be in the 21st century.
From clever plays on Lacoste’s sporting heritage (think preppy knitted polo shirts with exaggerated collars and chunky cricket sweaters teamed with spearmint suiting) to modernised takes on classic Gallic pieces (slick wet-look trench coats and voluminous Bengal stripe shirts furnished with oversized crocodile motifs, for instance), there was plenty to snap up.
The interview is very enlightening on Trotter’s take on the Lacoste brand and her plans for the fashion label. Read more at British GQ.
Meanwhile, Trotter’s predecessor, Felipe Oliveira Baptista, has just released new sneakers in collaboration with VANs for the Kenzo brand he now heads. See Nylon.com for more.
The Lacoste Carnaby Evo Sneaker Is My New Favorite Shoe
Note: Worried that the Lacoste sneaker you bought is fake? Check out my post on detecting counterfeit Lacoste sneakers.
The Lacoste Carnaby Evo Sneaker is my new favorite shoe. First released in the 1980s, and recently re-released, it is comfortable as hell, but also works well as a complement to any outfit from jeans and a t-shirt to a suit.
As Lacoste put’s it, its “elegant leather uppers and a simple lace-up silhouette inspire the premium aesthetic of this archive shoe. A stylish leather collar and top tongue further enhance the heritage look. Meanwhile, mesh linings add sport-inspired detailing to the design. Durable rubber outsoles ensure comfort and feature tennis-influenced tread finishes. Green crocodile branding completes the look with signature flair.”
The shoe has the following features:
- Leather uppers
- Rubber outsole
- Textile lining
- Classic embroidered green crocodile branding at the quarter
- Mesh linings for comfort and breathability
Available in either black or navy from Lacoste.