Lacoste, René
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[[Image:Lacoste_in_USA_1926.jpg|thumb|275px|right|René Lacoste]] | [[Image:Lacoste_in_USA_1926.jpg|thumb|275px|right|René Lacoste]] | ||
'''Jean René Lacoste''' (July 2, 1904 - October 12, 1996) was a famous [[France|French]] [[tennis]] player and businessman, nicknamed "the Crocodile" or "the Alligator" by fans, because of his pugnacity on court; he is now mostly known as being the namesake of the [[Lacoste (company)|Lacoste]] [[tennis shirt]], which he introduced in 1929. | '''Jean René Lacoste''' (July 2, 1904 - October 12, 1996) was a famous [[France|French]] [[tennis]] player and businessman, nicknamed "the Crocodile" or "the Alligator" by fans, because of his pugnacity on court; he is now mostly known as being the namesake of the [[Lacoste (company)|Lacoste]] [[tennis shirt]], which he introduced in 1929. | ||
Revision as of 16:18, 6 September 2007
Jean René Lacoste (July 2, 1904 - October 12, 1996) was a famous French tennis player and businessman, nicknamed "the Crocodile" or "the Alligator" by fans, because of his pugnacity on court; he is now mostly known as being the namesake of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929.
Lacoste was one of The Four Musketeers, France's tennis stars who dominated the game in the 1920s and early 1930s. He won 7 Grand Slam singles titles in the French, American, and British championships but never made the long trip to Australia to play in their championships. He was the world number one player for both 1926 and 1927.
In 1933, Lacoste founded La Société Chemise Lacoste, together with André Gillier. The company produced the tennis shirt which Lacoste often wore when he was playing, which had an alligator (generally thought to be a crocodile) embroidered on the chest.
In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, included Lacoste in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time.[1]
There are numerous explanations of why Lacoste was originally nicknamed the Crocodile (or the Alligator). A 2006 New York Times obituary about Lacoste's son, Bernard, provides an apparently authoritative one. In the 1920s, supposedly, Lacoste made a bet with his team captain about whether he would win a certain match. The stakes were a suitcase he had seen in a Boston store; it was made of crocodile (or alligator) skin. Later, René Lacoste's friend Robert George embroidered a crocodile onto a blazer that Lacoste wore for his matches.
The week of his death, French Advertising agency Publicis, who had been managing the account for decades, published a print ad with the Lacoste logo and the English words "See you later...", reinforcing the idea that the animal was perhaps an Alligator.
He married the famous golfing champion, Simone de la Chaume. Their daughter Catherine Lacoste was a champion golfer.
The Four Musketeers were inducted simultaneously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1976.
Personal life
Tennis career
Given such a short window of opportunity to find success and the tremendous pressure from his father, Lacoste found his diligence and dedication rewarded. By 1923 he was selected to his country's Davis Cup team, alongside Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, and Henri Cochet. Together, the men comprised the legendary "Four Musketeers."
Lacoste clothing brand
Lacoste was nicknamed "le Crocodile" by the American press. The French Davis Cup captain had promised Lacoste a crocodile-skin suitcase as an incentive to win a crucial match. The nickname caught on with American spectators, and according to Lacoste, it was an apt characterization: "[the nickname] highlighted my tenacity on the tennis courts, never giving up my prey!"
Robert George designed the signature crocodile, which was embroidered on the blazer that Lacoste sported each time he came onto the court. The Lacoste label was effectually launched five years later, in 1933 when Lacoste asked Andre Gillier to embroider the crocodile on the front of his tennis shirt. The company was officially named La Societe Chemise Lacoste. The sportswear was revolutionary at the time, because it strayed from the traditional long-sleeved shirt, and instead was a short-sleeved, jersey knit polo shirt.
The company ventured further from tradition by making a line of color shirts in 1951. In the 1970s Lacoste wear gained full popularity in the U.S., as the label and its crocodile emblem became the standard for preppy clothing styles. Many companies followed suit with similar shirts and logos. Lacoste himself could not truly appropriate the label's success to any one source: "I suppose you could say that if it had been a really nice animal, something sympathetic, then maybe nothing would have happened. Suppose I had picked a rooster. Well, that's French, but it doesn't have the same impact."
Bernard Lacoste, René's son, took over the company in 1964. In 2000, Christophe Lemaire replaced Giles Rosier as the company's Creative Director, helping reinstate Lacoste's popularity and its status in high fashion. Much more than a producer of shirts, as a nearly billion-dollar enterprise, the company has branched out into other areas of fashion, branding watches, lingerie, and fragrances. Lacoste himself ever designed the unprecedented steel racket in the 1960s, which was used by Jimmy Connors, among other players.
Legacy
Grand Slam results
| Olympic medalist | |||
| 150px René Lacoste at Wimbledon | |||
| Medal record | |||
| Men's Tennis | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 1924 Paris | Doubles | |
French Championships
- Singles champion: 1925, 1927, 1929
- Singles finalist: 1926, 1928
- Doubles champion: 1925, 1929
- Doubles finalist: 1927
Wimbledon
- Singles champion: 1925, 1928
- Singles finalist: 1924
- Doubles champion: 1925
U.S. Championships
- Singles champion: 1926, 1927
- Mixed finalist: 1926, 1927
Notes
- ↑ Writing in 1979, Kramer considered the best player ever to have been either Don Budge (for consistent play) or Ellsworth Vines (at the height of his game). The next four best were, chronologically, Bill Tilden, Fred Perry, Bobby Riggs, and Pancho Gonzales. After these six came the "second echelon" of Rod Laver, Lew Hoad, Ken Rosewall, Gottfried von Cramm, Ted Schroeder, Jack Crawford, Pancho Segura, Frank Sedgman, Tony Trabert, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, and Jimmy Connors. He felt unable to rank Henri Cochet and René Lacoste accurately but felt they were among the very best.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Kapferer, Patricia. La Légende Lacoste. Le Cherche Midi, 2002. ISBN 978-2862749112.
- Lacoste, Jeane René. Lacoste on Tennis. W. Morrow & Company, 1928.
- Lacoste, Rene. Plaisir du tennis. Fayard, 1981. ISBN 978-2213010144.
External links
- "Home Page". Official Site of Lacoste. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
- "Jean Rene Lacoste "The Crocodile"". International Tennis Hall of Fame Profile. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
- Brunner, Borgna. "René Lacoste, "Le Crocodile". Infoplease.com. Retrieved September 5, 2007.
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