Lacoste future
has always been known for their tennis shirts. They’re incredibly versatile in their simplicity and variety of colors and styles, yet the shirts are also a status symbol of sorts. The little alligator stitched onto the breast isn’t just a decoration, it’s a brand name projected out to anyone who sees it. It’s not sewn into the back of the neck – it’s right there on the front of the torso. But why not advertize that you’re wearing this well-loved brand?
This new campaign, Locoste Future, shows young people running through a city wearing these shirts, but the logo acts like an iPhone, and the vibrant young people are able to change the color or style of their shirt as easily as the background on their tablet. Everyone is styled in a very classic manner – with the thin, pale girl in high waist pleated pants and tall James Dean types with carefully quaffed and combed hairstyles. This trio rides fixed-gear bikes down cobblestone streets at night, while another lone male walks past, looking slightly upset but always handsome. They’re all stock characters representative of youth, and they’re wearing their tennis shirts with such comfort and freedom. This careless aesthetic of the past paired with this psychedelic morphing shirt of the future places the Lacoste tennis shirt right on the dividing line between the two directions of time. The shirt has always been casually cool, and will continue to be casually cool for the foreseeable future.
The Lacoste tennis shirt is good for goofing off or for dressing up – it’s for warm weather and cool weather, for daytime in the park or for going out at night. It always has been and it always will be – and although they might not ever get around to patenting an alligator appliqué that changes the gradient of the fabric or a shirt that tailors itself on a whim, the Lacoste of the future will continue to be just as versatile, stylish and classy as it always was.
