Lacoste
Tennis player René Lacoste’s company; the cotton piqué polo shirt with the crocodile put the brand on the outside of the garment.
René Lacoste won several Grand Slam tournaments and was nicknamed the crocodile. He had a crocodile embroidered on his tennis blazer and with André Gillier started a company making piqué tennis shirts.
The L.12.12 shirt had short sleeves and a loose cut that breathed better than the shirts of the day. The brand became a symbol of sporting elegance, and the crocodile was one of the first visible logos on a garment.
The embroidered crocodile; French sizes in numbers on the label.