The Frenchman Rene Lacoste was a tennis star, twice (1926, 1927) the best in the world and with seven Grand Slam titles in his possession. However, he found that sports-related clothing was very uncomfortable. Back then, tennis players wore a long-sleeved white T-shirt, long pants and a tie. He must have given up heavy clothes to wear while running to catch the ball.
Lacoste was looking for a T-shirt that was more body-friendly. In an article published in People magazine in 1979, he analyzed that "one day I noticed my friend the Marquis of Holmodele wearing his polo shirt on the court. "A very practical idea," I thought. It was so practical that Rene hired an English tailor to make some T-shirts, cotton and wool. "Before long, everyone wore them!" he said smiling.
For some, the polo shirt was invented by polo players (where horse riders hit a ball with long hammers) in 19th century India. It soon spread to the West. Lacoste first noticed the T-shirt in 1926 while playing in the US Open in New York.
At the same time, Lacoste was called a "crocodile" by his followers and the media, for reasons that have not yet been clarified. Some say he was so named because of his boldness in tennis, because of the shape of his nose or because of a bet (where he had bet against an alligator skin case, which was ultimately a crocodile).
In any case, Lacoste not only adopted the nickname, but also had the image of a crocodile sewn on his T-shirt, making his reptile his personal logo. When he retired from tennis in the early 30s, he founded La Chemise Lacoste with his friend Andre Zillier, president of France's largest knitting company, to produce and sell crocodile T-shirts sewn on them.
The Lacoste tennis T-shirt was found on the shelves of the American market in 1952, called "the symbol of the prestige of a worthy athlete". The company collaborated with the clothing company Izod, while it advertised dynamically, with celebrities such as Kennedy, Eisenhower and Crosby being depicted wearing the "crocodile". Since then, t-shirts have been established in the public consciousness.
Over time, the t-shirt and its characteristic design inspired many fans and imitators. Designers from various clothing categories have started sewing animal designs on their companies' poles: horse (Ralph Lauren), fish (Tommy Bahama), eagle (American Eagle) - even the crocodile itself!
The Chinese company, Crocodile Garments, was in a dispute with Lacoste for more than a decade over the rights to use the crocodile until, in 2003, the Chinese agreed to change their logo. According to CNN, the companies' compromise stated that Crocodile Garments would have "a crocodile with a tail that rises vertically and with skin of more scales. It will also have bigger eyes. "
Lacoste, who died in 1996, not only saw many imitators sewing animal images on the pole, but he was also a fan of the fashion revolution that took place on the tennis courts: from white, long tennis clothes to very short shorts!