Lacoste at Henri Beene

René Lacoste was a famous tennis player who achieved fame in two areas: tennis and fashion. While winning the 1927 U.S. Open championship, René Lacoste of France wore something that he himself had created: white Lacoste polo shirts that were short-sleeved, later to be called the Lacoste Polo Shirts 1212, made exclusively of a light knitted fabric called jersey petit piqué’ or as we know today the pique polo shirt. This fabric served to wick away moisture produced during sports activity and became the very first version of performance clothing in sports. In 1923 whilst playing in the Davis Cup the American press nicknamed Lacoste "the Alligator" because of a bet made over an alligator-skin suitcase. With no direct translation in his native french tongue, the nickname was changed to le crocodile in French. The nickname remained due to his tenacious behavior on the courts, never giving up his prey. A friend of Rene Lacoste Robert George drew a crocodile which Rene Lacoste then embroidered on the blazer he wore to the tennis courts. later seen on the Lacoste polo shirts The name of Lacoste and the green crocodile are today one of the worlds most recognised brands.

Lacoste Now - To emphasise the saying that well designed products stand the test of time the Lacoste Polo Shirts 1212 is at the core of the Lacoste polo clothing range. It demonstrates the quality of design - ribbed collar, short sleeves with ribbed bands and is made of the light knitted fabric pique' of which offers the traditional quality, comfort, solidity and uniqueness of the Lacoste brand.


The mens Lacoste polo shirts have transcended its original use from that of a sports shirt to a mens polo  shirt worn as an every day piece of apparel. The Lacoste Polo Shirts are manufactured to the same attention of design detail that the original Rene Lacoste Polo Shirts in pique of 1933. Design variations have changed over the years, a long sleeve Lacoste polo shirt is now favoured by many when worn off the sports field, an opposite to the original white Lacoste polo shirts which had short sleeves to avoid them coming down during play. The Lacoste Polo Shirts are made of the most exacting of standards, a total of 15 miles of the finest cotton is used to produce one of the Lacoste polo shirts mens polo shirts. Each one of the Lacoste Polo Shirts are dyed for 13 hours to achieve the depth of colour that most manufacturers of mens polo shirts failed to achieve. The colours favoured by the wearer of the Lacoste polo shirts style number 1212  today are the Black Polo Shirt, Green Polo Shirt, Red Polo Shirt and Blue Polo Shirt. Two other processes in the design of the Lacoste Polo Shirts are the use of real mother of pearl buttons and the hand finished seams around the neck. Together the elements of the design and quality of production have made the Lacoste Polo a design classic.