All Eyes on the Crocodile: Lacoste’s Fifth Avenue Revival

In the realm of activewear, few names carry the pedigree of Lacoste. One might even argue they invented the genre. In 1929, the brand’s founder, tennis legend René Lacoste, famously swapped out the era’s heavy cable-knit sweaters for a breezier piqué polo shirt—a garment he’d go on to produce commercially in 1933 under the label La Chemise Lacoste, complete with a crocodile logo inspired by his on-court nickname.

By the early aughts, the brand’s 5th Avenue flagship was a temple to tennis-chic. Andy Roddick signed autographs there at the height of his career, and Lacoste’s experimental collaborations—remember the Campanas-designed polo covered in 1,000 crocodile patches?—hit the shelves well before such team-ups became industry standard.

In the last decade, Lacoste has enjoyed a creative renaissance. Under the design direction of Louise Trotter, the house’s runway sensibility sharpened—an evolution now continued by Pelagia Kolotouros, who helms the brand today. Last night, Kolotouros was front and center at the opening of Lacoste’s gleaming new Fifth Avenue flagship, welcoming friends and fans who, unlike at many such fêtes, were actively shopping—cocktails in hand, complete with tennis ball–shaped ice cubes.

“It feels like a warm homecoming,” Kolotouros, a native New Yorker, told Vogue. “What I love about this store is the amount of space—and the ability to integrate the runway collection with the general collection. You can see how they coexist. They’re family.”

Her own family was on hand too, dressed head-to-toe in Lacoste looks of her own design. They were joined by Joan Smalls and Ella Emhoff in slick runway ensembles, while Antoni Porowski, Mel Ottenberg, and Mickey Boardman opted for the brand’s signature: jeans and a classic piqué polo. Boardman, rarely seen without one, summed up the evening in his own way: “I have died and gone to polo shirt heaven.”