7 March 2024 |
As Pelagia Kolotouros made her directorial debut, the spirit of the Années Folles was resurrected. The Greek-American designer recalled the time when tennis player and Lacoste founder René Lacoste, aka “the crocodile”, was ranked number one in the world, and when France – the birthplace of the brand – and Paris especially, was the global capital for creativity. A “pioneer, inventor, and proto-fashion icon”, Mr Lacoste’s ultra-modern clothing designs swirled through Kolotouros’s mind when she was handed the keys to the brand’s studio, and manifested on the catwalk as preppy-coded clothes informed by the elegant newness of the ‘20s and ‘30s.
In a Lacoste-ified palette of grass and croc greens, sky blue, clay-court terracotta and vibrant white (which symbolises victory within the sport), Kolotouros’s vision for the label started to take shape. Ensembles were streamlined and confident. Tailoring was crisp and clean. Technical materials mingled with lace, silk and sheer layers. A bold intarsia knit inspired by Mr Lacoste’s Davis Cup win was worn with slouchy culottes and court shoes, while pleated skirts inspired by the ones worn by tennis champion Suzanne Lenglen were layered over loosely tailored trousers and fitted polos (informed by the original tennis polo from 1933). There was a screen-printed image of the champion sportsman smashing balls that cropped up across track jackets, silk dresses and car coats too.
Croc graphic blankets were thrown over shoulders, their magnified motif based on the original drawing done by both Mr Lacoste and the artist Robert George in 1927. But it wasn’t only toothy predatory reptiles that swam across looks, baby crocs appeared in draped silver sequin embroidery on mesh lace dresses, vests and scarves. It was Lacoste, reengineered for a new era.
Photography by Yannis Vlamos.
