In 2000, the artistic director of Lacoste, Christophe Lemaire, succeeded in renewing the alligator by making it into a New York Fashion Week player. In the beginning, however, Lacoste was more about sports than trends...

Before Lemaire presented his brightly-colored or casual-chic preppy girls (who were anything but "sportswear"), the Lacoste alligator had already taken its place on the international stage thanks to one man, René Lacoste.

Lacoste was born in 1904 into a privileged life. At 14 years, while on vacation in La Baule, he learned to play tennis and fell in love with the sport. He quickly proved to be talented, so much so that he became one of the top players in the world.

He won time after time, including Roland Garros, Wimbledon and Forest Hills. His game, tenacious and consistent, won him the nickname "the Alligator" by the American press. Accepting this nickname that fit him so well, Lacoste decided to make it his emblem. He asked his friend Robert George to draw him an alligator that he could wear on his collar, and the Lacoste logo was born.

After, the tennis player decided to improve his playing conditions by having shirts made for him that would help him to transpire less. He chose a lightweight, stitched-knit fabric in used in polo players' shirts.

Shortly after, Lacoste decided to take advantage of his international fame to launch himself in business. He chose to develop the shirt that he had conceived for his own personal use, which he named the 1212. He associated with André Gillier, an industrial who owned a hosiery shop, and started a company called "La chemise Lacoste" (Lacoste shirts) in 1933. The Lacoste polo with its embroidered alligator was officially born and remains today the symbolic product of the brand.

From its first year of business, Lacoste diversified by also offering shirts for golfing and sailing. It had clearly taken a high-quality market position. Lacoste was also the first brand to place its emblem on the outside of the clothing - before, the labels were always hidden - and so became the origin of the "logo" phenomenon where the emblem is worn proudly to show membership to a particular group, or in his case, a certain elite.

Lacoste closed during WWII and reopened in better shape in 1946. He decided to focus on international development and a global strategy, to offer the same products in all countries and to standardize communications in order to spread a clear and recognizable brand image. Lacoste invested in the United States in 1966, then in Japan, Brazil, and finally Russia in 1995.

Bernard Lacoste, René's son, took over the company in 1963. With the firm intention of pursuing his father's policies of offering new products and moving towards a Lacoste lifestyle, he launched a children's line.

Lacoste, instead of building new factories for its new products, preferred to use the licensing system in order to grow quickly without having to spend time on production. The alligator was applied to leather goods, watches, perfumes and boats.

The brand, heretofore exclusively masculine, became more feminine. Sports were increasingly open to women and Lacoste attempted to penetrate this new market.

Cultivating a high quality image while offering affordable prices, Lacoste positioned itself in a hybrid niche: its products were simultaneously a sign of distinction carrying traditional and athletic values, and yet more accessible than any other brand of luxury sportswear.

In the 1990s, the brand lost some of its energy: its basics still worked well, but it needed reviving. At this moment, Christophe Lemaire, a French designer who would bring the vitality that Lacoste needed, entered into the picture. He set out to develop three strengths: a relaxed attitude, elegance, and freshness. Within several seasons, he modernized the Lacoste wardrobe and made it desirable and stylish, leaving behind little by little its sportswear-only image.

The recipe worked and sales soared, boutiques blossomed and René Lacoste's alligator, while continuing to win over the BCBGs (Bon Chic Bon Genre, or preppies) found itself being adopted by a new clientele: the fashionistas. For its 54th edition, the magazine Visionnaire asked Karl Lagerfeld and Peter Lindbergh to relook the Lacoste Polo, allowing it to penetrate even further into the world of fashion.