Press Release
Fashion, Health & Beauty | October 2007
Lacoste’s 75-year-old crocodile takes a bite out of the big apple
From the moment you set foot in New York City you know you have arrived at the epicentre of the universe. The city has its own heart-beat and even the heat radiating off the skyscrapers in mid-summer seems to keep a kind of rhythm. Needless to say any visitor can indulge readily and eagerly in the fruits of the big apple.
When most people think of New York they picture a concrete jungle where skyscrapers line streets so long that you can’t see the end of them. The city of New York is in fact even bigger than the image implies. Divided into 5 boroughs, New York City occupies two islands and a section of mainland at the mouth of the Hudson River which pours its waters into the Atlantic Ocean. Manhattan forms one of the five boroughs, the others being Brooklyn and Queens, which occupy the western segment of Long Island, Stanton Island and the Bronx which is the only borough attached to New York state by land. Though the idea of more than 200 streets stretching as far as the eye can see in Manhattan alone is daunting, getting around is anything but confusing. Streets run East to West and avenues run North to South. Anything below 1st street is considered “Downtown Manhattan” and the area between 59th and 110th street is where the oasis of Central Park divides the leafy green Upper West and Upper East sides respectively.
Built on the backs of Italian, Irish and Jewish people fleeing oppression in Europe, the city remains a melting pot of culture and creativity. The biggest and brightest stars of the film, footwear and fashion worlds showcase their art in this city and September sees Bryant Park transform into a marquee of celebrities, designers and fashion-followers as New York Fashion Week prepares to reveal the secrets of style for the next season.
Some of the best fashion houses showcasing their Spring/Summer 2008 collections in New York this year are the ones that have a history spanning the length of Broadway. Lacoste will celebrate 75 years of French tennis-inspired fashion in 2008 and this year’s collection has been created to honour the occasion. The brand’s Creative Director, Christophe Lemaire, has shaped it with the style and spice of the 1930’s in mind which was when the legend of the internationally acclaimed crocodile was born.
Backstage Lemaire explains that this latest offering from Lacoste is inspired by the chic, sporty elegance of the Lacoste lifestyle. “The key to Lacoste’s 75 years of success is remaining faithful to its authentic heritage,” says Lemaire, “Not to be anchored in the past, but instead to design fresh, modern classics for a contemporary wardrobe.”
The origins of the brand and it’s crocodile logo began when Rene Lacoste caused a sensation in the 1920’s by refusing to wear the long-sleeved shirts that were customary of sporting attire at the time and opting instead for the very first short-sleeved polo shirt in order to cope with the physical demands of a hot and humid tennis season and the scope of movement needed to deliver his powerful service. Lacoste’s great-grandson, Philippe Lacoste, is custodian of the brand today and the original 1212 (twelve twelve) Lacoste polo shirt is a hallmark of the collection, available in more colours than a paint swatch. Lacoste’s range now consists of a complete range of men’s and women’s attire, footwear, fine fragrances and accessories including luggage, leather goods and denim.
In South Africa Lacoste footwear was introduced by Anthony Spitz, the original owner and initiator of luxury shoe and accessories emporium, Spitz, in the 1980’s. At the time Anthony was concerned that the ferocious crocodile logo would offend shoppers due to it’s similarity to animals with negative connotations in several South African cultural groups. To combat this, he consulted with a sangoma who blessed and condoned the symbol, casting aside the potential for fear among shoppers who adopted the brand with resulting long-standing loyalty. Today Spitz is the 4th largest distributor of Lacoste footwear in the world.
At New York Fashion Week this year Lemaire starts the show with a special Club collection that pays homage to Rene Lacoste. He features a larger, off-white crocodile logo taken from the original drawn for Lacoste by his friend Robert George in 1927 and embroidered conspicuously on his blazers.
For men, there is a white linen blazer with grey tipped lapels and matching trousers worn with a pimento red Basque belt and classic espadrilles laced up over the calf (a nod to the stylish players of ‘pelote Basque’). For women, halter dresses with pimento red or black piping worn with platform wedge espadrilles complement a floor-length sleeveless polo and a contemporary mini tennis dress with wide pleats. Lemaire even takes the iconic all-in-one men’s bathing suit of that era and updates it in piqué for women.
The collection continues with a sun-bleached series of washed denim and faded pastels, taking a nautical turn to encompass further the belonging of the brand within outdoors sports such as yachting and sailing. Here Lemaire pairs high-waisted and flared sailor pants with fitted striped polos and proposes dresses and swimsuits in oversized polka dots or wide stripes. Marine signal flags are a main influence for the bold graphics on the men’s polos, rugbys and blousons.
It’s true that Lacoste may have started in 1933 with a single white polo shirt for the purposes of playing tennis with ease and comfort but today it is a global lifestyle brand and 2008’s footwear and apparel maintains the clean and relaxed lines inherent in sophisticated sportswear collections and yet brings an elegance and cutting edge fashion appeal to the catwalk.
Returning from New York followers of Lacoste need not despair. Fazel Surtees, the man at the helm of South Africa’s group of Lacoste stores, explains that things are heating up for next year’s 75th Anniversary celebrations. “When a fashion brand has maintained quality and consistently innovated while simultaneously remaining true to values over a period of 75 years it is definitely something worth celebrating. Though there is strength in Lacoste’s French roots, the brand crossed over national, cultural and sexual barriers with ease. Our plans are to open new Lacoste stores in Irene Mall, Eastgate and Bloemfontein in the next 6 months.”
Additionally South Africa’s very first Lacoste Accessories Boutique opened its chic French fashion doors in Cavendish Square, Cape Town, on 5th November 2007 thanks to Spitz. To enhance this delicious news Spitz secured the opportunity to include footwear from the Spring/Summer 2008 Lacoste collection, hot off the catwalks of New York, this December. This will mean that South Africans are able to buy from the new collection a full season ahead of worldwide fashion markets.
“Usually our geographical position puts us at a bit of a disadvantage because our seasons are 6 months behind those of international fashion capitals,” explains Tshepo Modiba, Lacoste Footwear Buyer and Brand Manager at Spitz, “The Lacoste stores in South Africa always buy in the same season as Europeans and Americans and this year will see Spitz housing Lacoste footwear a season ahead of the likes of Milan, Paris and New York City. This is an international fashion first for South Africa.”
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Cool Guys of New York
Each year at New York Fashion Week Lacoste selects 6 men to be part of a photo shoot where they are dressed in the new season of Lacoste. These guys are dubbed “The Cool Guys of New York”. They are successful, powerful men with presence and ambition and their own senses of style. They are the modern men who demonstrate the same qualities as those of Rene Lacoste. They pay attention to detail, invest in quality, and have a tendency to buck the trend.
It’s clear to find the inspiration needed for all this flavourful fashion on the very streets of New York. In a country like South Africa the key word among creative industry professionals is “exposure”. Big budgets are obliterated at high class events in Johannesburg and Cape Town while in New York owners of restaurants, clubs and bars are trying to hide their locations in order to preserve their cosy and exclusive atmospheres.
It’s these spots that the genuine, native New Yorker frequents. Hidden down a dark street behind a roughly nailed door and a thick velvet curtain, Milk and Honey is a bar like this. Here John Barboni co-founder of Elemental Architecture reclines in a cushioned booth in dusty lamplight and a waiter who looks like something out of the Rat-Pack, hands him a cocktail which he says is called a “Dark and Stormy”.
With 2 partners, one of whom he calls his greatest mentor, John specialises in what New Yorkers term “green architecture”, the method of designing buildings that work in conjunction with natural forces for daylighting, ventilation, water and shelter instead of trying to draw power from natural resources and in turn depleting them. “As opposed to sheltering yourself form the environment, we draw inspiration and knowledge from the architects of the pre-industrial era and ask how we can work with nature to be comfortable and fulfil our modern requirements,” he says.
With New York constantly under construction and development John is at the heart of architecture’s progressive elite who seek to make their buildings sustainable through a poetic assimilation of building techniques that ensure as little damage to the environment as possible. “In my opinion architects have made the mistake of building first and then trying to make that building green. I believe that green buildings, like nature, need to be organic, they need to be conceptualised with green at heart from the very beginning” he says. Having grown up in California and spending time in both Italy and France, John moves easily in front of the camera for Lacoste’s shoot. It’s clear that though his buildings may be green they certainly don’t compromise on aesthetic.
Andy Salzer calls himself the Creative Director of the acclaimed Yoko Devereaux clothing brand that has achieved cult status in New York attracting stars like Jonathan Rhys-Myers and Pharrell Williams. In truth he is the designer, MD, CEO and PR spokesperson for the brand though his careful preservation of the image of Yoko Devereaux has resulted in shoppers believing that Yoko Devereaux is the name of a woman behind the designs of the clothing.
“The motivation behind the clothing is to find a middle ground between jeans and T-Shirts and the stiff upper lip of New York’s suit-wearers,” explains Andy, “I wanted to create a look that could translate from the streets to the boardroom so when I was thinking of a name for the brand I combined the most common Japanese women’s name, Yoko, which is reminiscent of Japanese street style and youth culture, with the name of Devereaux, which is one of the oldest and most established upper crust New York families.”
Thus Yoko Devereaux was born and followers have claimed to have met her ever since, an illusion that Andy enjoys and encourages. “The beauty of people thinking that Yoko really exists as a person is that she can never be fashion flawed. She can’t make a mistake because she is never seen so she can never be seen badly dressed. She’s perfect,” he says.
Tommy Saleh is another of New York’s cool guys. As he reclines in the white light of Lacoste’s 75th Anniversary Lounge he looks the picture of ease and success, a man completely at home and confident in his role as the Events Director of Manhattan’s renowned Grand Hotels. The Tribecca Grand on the Avenue of the Americas is bustling with international guests and Tommy knows them all. He is the man who knows every DJ on the decks, every man at every nightclub door and can put you on any list for any party. His phone is somewhat like a Casino Boss’s little black book of high-roller guests and his sense of style can combine purple drain-pipe jeans with a tight-fitting black biker jacket and comfortably get away with it.
“Lacoste is a brand that speaks to me because it takes chances,” Tommy says when asked why he accepted the invitation to be one of Lacoste’s Cool Guys, “It’s refreshing to wear clothing that is grounded in a sense of practicality and principals of comfort and freedom of movement while at the same time having 75 years of fashion-forward thinking to draw on.”
Ends (Words: 2076)
Distributed by:Justine Cottrell
RedCube Agency
Email: justine@redcube.co.za
Tel: 011 996 2000
Tania Morgan-Weyer
Marketing Director
Spitz
AND
Fazel Surtee
CEO
The Surtee Group - Lacoste
