The tennis player behind Lacoste: who created the crocodile brand?

The grass at Wimbledon is mowed with millimeter precision. It is the summer of 1928, and the crowd, dressed in hats and light-colored dresses, watches in silence. On Centre Court are two Frenchmen. One is Henri Cochet; the other, René Lacoste. The latter wears an immaculate white shirt and keeps his gaze fixed on his opponent. When the ball comes to him, he strikes it with almost mechanical precision. He is not a player of instinct, but of method. He analyzes, waits, and wears down his opponent until the exact moment to attack arrives.

In fact, Lacoste was destined to be an engineer. His father wanted him to study at the École Polytechnique, one of the most prestigious technical schools in France. But in 1923, the young Parisian gave it all up to dedicate himself to tennis. However, that analytical mindset never left him. In fact, it was key to his eventually creating one of the world's most iconic fashion empires: Lacoste. Today, the crocodile brand has a turnover of nearly €3 billion annually and boasts more than 1,100 stores worldwide. But how did he go from being a tennis player obsessed with perfection to the founder of one of the world's most recognizable brands?

The invention of the pole

René Lacoste was born in Paris in 1904 into a wealthy family. His father, Jean-Jules Lacoste, was an executive at the Hispano-Suiza automobile company and had a very clear vision for his son's future: a brilliant career in engineering. But young René had other plans. In 1923, at just nineteen years old, he decided to abandon that path and dedicate himself entirely to tennis. He wasn't a precocious prodigy like some other players of the time, but he compensated for his lack of natural talent with an almost scientific discipline: he took notes on matches, studied his opponents, and sought to improve every detail of his game.

That method made him one of the best tennis players in the world. Between 1925 and 1929, he won seven Grand Slam tournaments and became one of the sport's greatest international figures. It was also during those years that the nickname that would come to define his brand was born. During a tour in the United States, Lacoste noticed a crocodile-skin suitcase displayed in a shop window. The captain of the French team promised to buy it if he won a crucial match. The anecdote spread among journalists, and the American press began referring to the tennis player as "The Crocodile" because of his tenacious playing style. In 1927, the designer Robert George drew one, which Lacoste decided to have embroidered on his competition jacket. Without knowing it, he had just created one of the most recognizable logos in fashion history.

But his most decisive contribution to the world of sportswear wasn't the logo, but a garment. In the 1920s, tennis players competed in long-sleeved shirts, trousers, and even belts—an impractical outfit for a sport that was becoming increasingly physically demanding. Lacoste, obsessed with performance, decided to simplify it. He shortened the shirt's sleeves and replaced the traditional fabric with a lighter, more breathable cotton. In 1933, the tennis player partnered with textile industrialist André Gillier to mass-produce this shirt and founded the brand.

From the track to the whole world

Success came quickly. Initially designed for tennis, the polo shirt quickly spread to other sports like golf and, eventually, to everyday wear. In the early 1950s, Lacoste introduced a range of colors that broke with the traditional white of tennis and helped to make the garment a staple of everyday clothing.

Over time, the brand expanded its reach beyond sportswear. Starting in the 1970s, it added perfumes and, later, shoes, sunglasses, watches, and other accessories. Simultaneously, Lacoste began developing a network of its own stores worldwide, solidifying the little crocodile as one of the most recognizable symbols of contemporary fashion.

In 2012, a dispute within the founding family precipitated a change of ownership. The Swiss group Maus Frères, which already controlled part of the capital, bought the shares held by the Lacoste heirs and gained full control of the company. The transaction valued the brand at approximately €1.2 billion and marked its definitive transition from a family business to an international fashion group.