In celebration of its 80th Anniversary, LACOSTE unveiled an exclusive and unique brand experience roadshow in Manila, which went on display from January 10 to 12 and January 14 to 16 at the Shangri-la Plaza’s East Wing Atrium. Visitors encountered three cubes filled with moving and still images and objects from the brand archives dating back to the invention of the polo shirt and founding of the brand in 1933 by tennis champion René Lacoste.
Eighty years of reinventing the codes
The first cube showcased the iconic polo shirt. The walls featured a carefully curated collection of LACOSTE polos over the years, including the Holiday Collector’s Series, where each year since 2006, the brand features guest artists to re-imagine the classic polo. These include British industrial designer Tom Dixon, British product designer Michael Young, Chinese artist Li Xiaofeng, American designer Jonathan Adler, Brazilian designers the Campana Brothers and American fashion icon Visionaire with singer/photographer Michael Stipe. A screen looped film clips that tell the story of the iconic L.12.12 polo shirt, the brand evolution through the decades, and the Polo of the Future.
Eighty years of natural evolution
The second cube contained a cabinet of Crocodile Curiosities. Here, visitors discovered the various shapes and sizes, colors and contexts that the LACOSTE crocodile logo has adopted and adapted to over the decades during its natural evolution. Along the walls was a timeline highlighting the important dates and milestones in the brand history. Complementing this was a set of fun facts about the crocodile species at large: Did you know that crocodiles live up to 100 years?
Eighty years of reinventing silhouettes in motion
The third cube housed a collection of images from the brand archives. Black and white heritage photos of brand founder René Lacoste, himself a tennis legend, as well as his wife and daughter, both golf champions, were mixed with more recent images of fashion shows, products and other objects that combined, offer a compelling visual narrative of LACOSTE’s development and expansion from a single item –the iconic polo shirt– to a truly global lifestyle brand. Film clips of current Creative Director Felipe Oliveira Baptista and Design Director Christophe Pillet speaking to the inspiration and ideas for their innovative worked round out the content of this room. Outside the cube, a window showcased tennis dresses from the 1970’s, the Golden Age of that sport and an important time for the brand as it began seriously producing women’s sportswear.
Opening of the first agora store concept in Shangri-la Plaza’s east wing
The newly opened Lacoste store in Shangri-la Plaza’s East Wing is the first Agora store concept in Manila. Its polished look gives a glimpse of clean lines and a breezy store design. Inside, visitors will be able to touch and try on the special collections featuring the 80th Anniversary logo created by British art director Peter Saville and designed especially for this important birthday of the brand. The capsule collection of the 80th Anniversary, as well as the brand’s seasonal collections, include apparel, leather goods, footwear, eyewear and other accessories.
In the Philippines, Lacoste is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc. (SSI) and is located at Shangri-la Plaza East Wing, Greenbelt 3, Rustan’s Makati, Rustan’s Tower Shangri-la Plaza, The Power Plant Mall, Megamall, The Podium, Mall of Asia, Gateway Mall, Trinoma, Eastwood Mall, Newport Mall, Robinsons Galleria, Robinson’s Magnolia, Robinson’s Place Manila, Alabang Town Center – Corte de las Palmas, Ayala Center Cebu, SM Davao, Abreeza Davao, and Veranza KCC Mall. Lacoste Accessories is also exclusively distributed by SSI and is located at Glorietta 4 and Gateway Mall.
