A couple of weeks ago, on a night during both New York Fashion Week and the US Open, the peak of Nine Orchard, the legendary Lower East Side hotel, was bathed in an emerald green light. The sense of occasion was only reinforced by the crowd that the event managed to draw, with global tier talents like Venus Williams, Dev Hynes and Irina Shayk spotted among the jostling crowd that filled the venue’s sprawling rooftop. But what, exactly, had brought them there? Well, as you could probably guess from the presence of global tennis stars and the verdant hue, it was Lacoste – specifically, the occasion of the legendary French brand’s 90th anniversary.
Indeed, over the past year, the tennis-anchored brand has travelled the world, celebrating the fiercely loyal communities that it has cultivated over its nine decades in business. In New York, specifically, the brand has commemorated its relationship with the city by way of the refurbishment and redesign of two tennis courts in The Bronx, to the benefit of local tennis fans, kids and adults alike. The project was supported by Venus Williams, who also revealed a look from her forthcoming collaboration with Lacoste on the night
That wasn’t the only grand reveal of the evening, though. The event offered a sneak peek at the first collection from Lacoste’s new creative director, Pelagia Kolotouros, whose appointment to the helm of the brand was announced back in February of this year. While her debut won’t bow until March of next year, Pelagia took the New York shindig as an opportunity to tease her vision for the crocodile label. Here, she discusses the creative direction she’s taking, her mission to put sensuality at the heart of Lacoste, and making tennis culture more inclusive.
Hi Pelagia! Tell us about your personal relationship to Lacoste – do you remember when you first encountered the brand, and how it resonated?
Pelagia: Well, I’m from Queens, New York, and I used to live around the corner from an elementary school that was next to this old tennis court. I used to go and play there after school, running around picking up all the deflated yellow tennis balls left around the court, but it was there that I first remember seeing Lacoste, on people playing tennis there. The colours, in particular, really resonated with me. I think that when you’re at that young age — when you’re 8 or 10 — things just really imprint in a way that they don’t later in life. Also, seeing the crocodile for the first time really sparked a curiosity — it was so different from the insignia of other brands out there at the time. And as a kid, it’s something that you really gravitate towards, as it’s such a playful and symbolic emblem.
In a style context, though, my most vivid memories are of seeing the brand in more of a vintage context – seeing the tracksuits and sneakers on the streets of New York, which were really part of a uniform. I remember seeing people wearing toothbrushes in the back pockets of their trousers, just in case they messed up their white sneakers!
90 years on from its founding, what defines the spirit of Lacoste to you?
I think it stands for a certain French elegance, and it really brings that into a streetwear context. The mix of those two things is really interesting — it’s an elegance that naturally comes with the sport of tennis, but then Lacoste has such a powerful presence in streetwear culture, and such a unique position at the intersection of fashion and sport. There’s also its stronghold on tennis aesthetics, as it’s a brand that’s so deeply intertwined with the sport.
And how would you summarise your creative vision for the brand?
It’s really been about reinstating a sense of French elegance, and taking the codes of tennis, and really celebrating them. I also want to bring a sense of sensual femininity back into the brand’s DNA. Obviously, when you first start at a new brand, you spend a lot of time in the archive, and looking there, you really see a sense of sexiness and flirtatiousness that I think is intrinsic to tennis. It’s been really fun finding ways to resurrect that and incorporate it into the collection as a key ingredient.
What was your experience of digging into the Lacoste archive like? What are the most intriguing or surprising discoveries you’ve made?
I didn’t know that René Lacoste had such a deep interest in America. He’s quoted as saying, “I’ve always felt an attraction to America, and not to mention felt grateful for the American character and generosity.” And there are pieces in the archive that really attest to that affinity he felt.
From an aesthetic point of view, one of the main things that I discovered was the many iterations of the crocodile, and just how many there were. There’s this one crocodile that I’ve been obsessed with, which is the original crocodile developed by René’s best friend Robert George. It’s been fun resurrecting that old emblem that had a greater sense of savoir-faire and handcraft, bringing another level of elegance to it.
How has that research informed the look of your first collection for Lacoste?
It’s really been about going back to the foundation, and celebrating René Lacoste’s vision. He was a restless inventor and a world tennis champion who brought global attention to France, and as a result, the creation of the tennis temple, Roland Garros. If you think about René’s style back in the 1920s, the tennis blazer was a piece he constantly wore to matches. I wanted to bring back some of that ceremonial dressiness, a sense of timelessness, and layer it with performance and sportswear elements.
Could you tell us about the community you’re building around the brand? Who is a part of it, and why?
I think the event we hosted in New York during fashion week was a good indication of the community I want to curate. We had Amoako Boafo, who’s a very well-known artist, and bringing in an artistic flavour. We had Dev Hynes, and we also had Cindy Emilie, a dancer from Paris. It’s really about building a community that’s diverse — and not just with respect to ethnicity, but also in terms of what they do and what their passions are. Funnily enough, though, if you speak to Dev, he’ll tell you about his love for tennis. And it’s the same with Amoako], his love for tennis started when he was a teenager, so it felt very organic for these people to be Lacoste muses.
What are you most excited for people to discover in the collection when it launches in March?
That sense of French elegance and sophistication — but there’ll still be a strong emphasis on tennis culture. We’ll really be owning that as part of our heritage.Cindy Emilie. Photography Collier Schorr. Image courtesy of Lacoste
