Lacoste's Crocodile Gets a New Look from Hollywood Stars

LACOSTE, Barneys NEW YORK, and BIDZ.COM have come together to auction off a series of ONE OF A KIND, Celebrity designed Lacoste 1212 Polo shirts with 100% of the proceeds going to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

These unique creations will be displayed at a star studded event Thursday, October 20, 2005 at Barneys NEW YORK in Beverly Hills, C.A.

Celebrities such as Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, Duran Duran, Lisa Kudrow, Jamie Lynn, Teri Hatcher, Rod Stewart and many others, have designed one of a kind versions of the Classic Lacoste 1212 Polo.




The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is the worldwide leader in the fight against pediatric AIDS and other serious and life-threatening diseases affecting children.
The Foundation's innovative research programs, collaborative training initiatives, advocacy efforts, and rapidly expanding international programs are bringing dramatic changes to the lives of children worldwide. The non-profit organization is committed to ensuring that the majority of every dollar raised goes directly into their research, education, and outreach programs.

The story of the famous Lacoste crocodile began in 1927.
René LACOSTE recalls how his nickname became an emblem recognized throughout the world. "I was nicknamed "the Alligator" by the American press, after I made a bet with the Captain of the French Davis Cup Team concerning a suitcase made from alligator skin. He promised to buy it for me if I won a very important match for our team. The public must have been fond of this nickname which conveyed the tenacity I displayed on the tennis courts, never letting go of my prey!
So my friend Robert GEORGE drew a 'crocodile' which I then had embroidered on the blazer I wore on the courts.

Lacoste entered the legend of tennis when he and his team-mates "The Musketeers", stole the Davis Cup away from the Americans for the first time, in 1927.

In 1933, René LACOSTE and André GILLIER, the owner and President of the largest French knitwear manufacturing firm of that time, set up a company to manufacture the logo-embroidered shirt. The champion had designed this for his own use on the tennis court, as well as a number of other shirts for tennis, golf and sailing - as can be seen in the first catalogue, produced in 1933.
The first LACOSTE shirt was white, slightly shorter than its counterparts, had a ribbed collar, short sleeves with ribbed bands and was made of a light knitted fabric called "Jersey petit piqué".