Après Lacoste, le déluge

If the weather gods are any indication, then the future should be kind to Lacoste, whose latest show at an outside tennis court at Roland Garros ended seconds before a torrential downpour.

It’s been raining all fashion week in Paris, from the first full day of action, when hundreds of fashionistas hunkered down underneath tiny black brollys at Marine Serre, to a garden show by Lanvin, when the audience all saw the collection through plastic umbrellas. Happily, for Lacoste’s creative director Louise Trotter, the rain held off until her cast had exited the Court Simonne-Mathieu, a fancy high-tech exhibition court. Within seconds the dry pink clay had turned dark red.

The show was in part a return to the roots, seeing as we were meters away from the scene of some of René Lacoste’s greatest tennis triumphs.

Lacoste, which owned by the Swiss family fund Maus Frères, is one of France’s biggest fashion brands with some 2 billion euros in annual revenues. Privately held, they do not publish official figures.

Under CEO Thierry Guibert, who arrived in 2015, the marque has focused more on active sport with Novak Djokovic as its key ambassador. In a two-pronged strategy, Lacoste plans to put more of its runway collection into its huge global store network of 1,200 boutiques.

Lacoste has suggested doing precisely that before with its previous designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista. However, there was plenty in today’s show that would probably work for more fashion-forward costumers at retail.

Beginning with the excellent block graphic versions of the classic Lacoste cotton picqué, or color contrasts versions with huge collars of the same garment. While the Argyle style woollen tank tops with oversized croc logos; and deep-gorge sweaters in this co-ed show also worked well. Plus the new jumbled letters of the Lacoste logo looked like a hit as well.

Trotter also sent out a smart new sneaker with a tiny crocodile at the toe, something René should have enjoyed. Nothing too revolutionary, but one doesn’t go to Lacoste for insurrectionary fashion.

Even the rain slickers in beige or taiga green looked sharp. Pity they didn’t have them to hand out at the finale.

Après Lacoste, le déluge

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