Usually marketed as a tennis brand, Lacoste has released a new collection of animal-friendly polo shirt designs and it is already sold out. The French clothing company known for its iconic crocodile logo has designed a new collection where the famous crocodile is replaced with the 10 most threatened species in the world. Used as limited-edition logos, these endangered species are the Kakapo parrot, California condor, vaquita dolphin, Burmese roofed turtle, northern sportive lemur, the saola, Javan rhino, Cao Vit gibbon, Sumatran tiger, and the Anegada ground iguana.
The new Lacoste collection embroidered with animals is a limited edition series released in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] and BETC Paris. By buying one of these polos from the new Lacoste collection, customers would help with wildlife conservation. The sales revenues will be donated to IUCN as part of the conservation campaign launched at the Paris Fashion Week. Interestingly, the quantity of polos remaining for each species represents the number of corresponding animals remaining in the real world. For instance, the polo with the Vaquita dolphin logo is produced only in 30 specimens, as this is the number of Vaquita dolphins available in the world, right now, making the species at great risk of being endangered. This new Lacoste collection is considered a bold marketing move by Lacoste since the classic green crocodile logo is a major part of Lacoste’s brand identity. Ad agency BETC Paris is the mastermind behind this clever idea. Many of the public fans of the fashion label are quite impressed with the new Lacoste collection containing 1,775 polo shirts that have been sold out instantly. This is the first time in Lacoste’s history of 85 years to make any changes to their famous logo. According to an official statement from Lacoste: “By buying a polo, you participate in helping IUCN and Lacoste in the fight for wildlife conservation worldwide.”
