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
Mona Tougaard takes to Dior runway in Paris
- Jonathan Anderson’s fall-winter 2026 clothes displayed
- Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlize Theron among the attendees
PARIS/ DUBAI: Model Mona Tougaard stepped onto the Dior runway at the Tuileries Garden during Paris Fashion Week recently.
The sun was out over the glass-walled runway at the famed Tuileries Garden in the French capital on Tuesday, flooding Jonathan Anderson’s fall-winter 2026 collection for Dior with a golden light that invoked Impressionist paintings.
Among the celebrities at Paris Fashion Week packed into the glass walkways around the park’s octagonal basin — dotted with artificial water lilies in a nod to Monet — were Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlize Theron, Jisoo, Priyanka Chopra, Willow Smith, Emily Ratajkowski and Macaulay Culkin.
It was a fitting mood for a collection steeped in flowers, water and the art of being seen.
For the show Tougaard, who has Danish, Turkish, Somali and Ethiopian ancestry, wore a structured, high-neck jacket in a pale ivory tone with soft pastel feather-like patterns in shades of blue and blush.
The jacket was tailored and fitted through the waist, fastened with small buttons down the front, and finished with delicate feather detailing along the hem.
It was paired with a dramatic, layered black tulle skirt featuring polka-dot mesh and scalloped lace edges. The skirt was short and voluminous at the front with multiple ruffled tiers, while a sheer asymmetrical train extended from the back, adding movement as she walked.
She completed the look with black-and-white pointed heels, creating a sharp contrast against the airy textures of the outfit.
Besides Tougaard’s look, the runway also featured deconstructed frock coats, peplum jackets and bustle skirts in candied almond shades, Chantilly lace and metallic jacquards. Shrunken blazers sat above lampshade skirts in baby-soft shearling.
Sculptural knits held their shape like origami.
The floral theme was everywhere — but it was developed through silhouette and fabric rather than slapped on literally.
Crinkled cardigans recalled the corolla of a bloom. Asymmetrically fastened skirts and dresses evoked petals. Even the crystal detailing on embroidered jeans carried a botanical echo.
Anderson reprised his Donegal tweed take on the house’s legendary Bar jacket, but made it longer and looser.
The spiral cage dresses that wowed at his recent couture show returned as clouds of soft pleated fabric.
There were ivory hammered silk track pants with covered bridal buttons, jeans with ribbon embroidery and plain robe coats worn as dresses — garments rarely given the spotlight on a runway.
