Designer’s pick, November 2021 – Logo of Lacoste

Lacoste is one of the iconic casual and sports brands, which started from the production of tennis apparel, as its founder, Rene Lacoste, was one of the brightest stars in the world of tennis in the 1920s, who was nicknamed “the Crocodile.” One says it is a reference to his playing style, while the more popular theory is that it stems from a bet the player made over the outcome of a match, wherein the winner would get a suitcase made of crocodile (or alligator) leather. Lacoste later cofounded a clothing company with André Gillier that made tennis (or polo) shirts with a crocodile embroidered on the chest — and the rest is history. The instantly recognizable today green crocodile, the emblem of the brand, was first placed on a tennis polo in 1926, and since then became an inevitable part of the Lacoste visual identity.