PARIS: French fashion brand Lacoste on Wednesday swapped the crocodile logo on its shirts for the first time in its history for 10 of the most endangered species on the planet.
The green Lacoste crocodile — one of the world’s best-known logos — was replaced by the Sumatran tiger, the Javan rhino and the Cao Vit gibbon on the chest of its classic white polo shirts in a limited edition charity tie-in with the Save Our Species conservation group.
All but a handful were sold out within hours of going on sale for 150 euros ($183) immediately after the brand’s Paris fashion week show.
The number of polo shirts put on sale was directly linked to remaining numbers of each threatened species surviving in the wild — with only 30 for vaquita porpoises and 231 for Californian condors.
Designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista also included camouflaged images of each of the endangered animals in the last 10 looks in his autumn-winter collection.
“I think it is a great thing to do, and feels very gratifying if we can do something for these animals,” he told AFP.
“Lacoste is one of the 10 more recognizable logos in the world with Coca-Cola and Apple.”
The Portuguese designer said he had to be careful about using the crocodile logo — which dates from 1933 — “with respect. I don’t like to plaster it everywhere. Either you be very classic with it or very original, and in this case it’s quite original I think.”
Lacoste’s crocodile logo still features on the back of the 1,775 shirts.
Oliveira Baptista said he took his inspiration for the main collection from the 50,000 trees the Lacoste family planted around their golf course at Saint-Jean-de-Luz in southwest France during World War II.
It was also a way of sparing local men from being sent to German forced labor camps, as forestry workers were exempt from conscription, he said.
The designer had Princess Diana and the English upper classes at play in mind when he began creating the collection, with some models wearing wellingtons with hunting ponchos and boonie sun hats on top of hoodies.
“I got inspired particularly by looking back at pictures of Lady Di: how she wore clothes that were high and low at the same time,” he added.
“I was looking for something timeless, something that would last more than six months.”
Lacoste swaps its crocodile for logos of endangered species
Lacoste swaps its crocodile for logos of endangered species
Fashion world pays tribute to Valentino
DUBAI: Models, celebrities and designers have paid tribute to Valentino Garavani, who died earlier this week at the age of 93.
The Italian designer, known for his high-glamour gowns and his signature shade of red, was a fashion show mainstay for nearly half a century.
Among those honoring him was model Mona Tougaard, who walked in his 2024 show. The Danish model, who has Turkish, Somali and Ethiopian heritage, shared the news on Instagram with a broken-heart emoji.
Dubai-based Hollywood star Lindsay Lohan also paid tribute by resharing a photo of herself with Garavani from a fan account, adding a broken-heart emoji and a bird emoji.
Lebanese designer Nicolas Jebran shared an image of the designer on his Instagram story, joining the wave of tributes from across the fashion world.
Known universally by his first name, Valentino was adored by generations of royals, first ladies and movie stars, from Jackie Kennedy Onassis to Julia Roberts and Queen Rania of Jordan, who all swore the designer always made them look and feel their best.
Though Italian-born and despite maintaining his atelier in Rome, he mostly unveiled his collections in Paris.
Alessandro Michele, the current creative director of the Valentino fashion house, wrote on Instagram that he continues to feel Valentino’s “gaze” as he works on the next collection, which will be presented in Rome on March 12.
Valentino was born into a wealthy family in the northern Italian town of Voghera on May 11, 1932. He said it was his childhood love of cinema that set him down the fashion path.
“I was crazy for silver screen, I was crazy for beauty, to see all those movie stars being sensation, well dressed, being always perfect,” he said in a 2007 television interview.
After studying fashion in Milan and Paris, he spent much of the 1950s working for established Paris-based designer Jean Desses and later Guy Laroche before striking out on his own. He founded the house of Valentino on Rome’s Via Condotti in 1959.
Early fans included Italian screen sirens Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren, as well as Hollywood stars Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn.
Over the years, Valentino’s empire expanded as the designer added ready-to-wear, menswear and accessories lines.
