The Fall/Winter 2024 runway presentations were packed with creative directorial debuts. Some were promising, some were controversial, and some breathed fresh air into legacy fashion houses. Lacoste was amongst the bunch and fell on the latter half of the spectrum — it was a solid debut by newly appointed design director Pelagia Kolotouros.
Kolotouros' Lacoste FW24 honors the label's roots, instilled by founder and tennis champ René Lacoste. It pairs general tennis references with nods to the 1920s French art and fashion scene. In bridging these elements together, Kolotouros gave us classic, chic, relaxed, sporty, and lots of pleats.
Indeed, the tennis skirt thrived in more ways than one, from the traditional bouncy skirt layered over a skirt (call it the "Lacoste skants") to a buttery leather pleated handbag.
Lacoste FW24 also had this functional edge to it, iterated mainly by a gathering of windbreaker-like dresses and tops realized with cream and black colorblocking.
Before there was "Bottega Green," there was Lacoste Green. The brand's famous color naturally dressed nice tailored pieces and even a fuzzy bathrobe. Elsewhere, however, the green hue was very subtle, appearing more as a splash here and there against the burgundy, black, cream, and rust orange hues.
And what's a Lacoste collection without its famous crocodile? The brand's mascot was everywhere, from belt buckles to shiny finishes on sheer sweaters to tie clips resembling tennis rackets.
The Lacoste Croc also informed jacquard patterns, allover prints on silky garments, scaly handbags, and the classic chest emblem on new-season knits and polos.
Lacoste's iconic sweaters were reimagined as super long cable-knit dresses and coordinates featuring preppy hot pants, bridging the old and new Lacoste for pieces that are making the brand go viral (again).
If you have an Instagram account, you've probably seen Lacoste's internet-beloved ombré alpaca sweater land on your feed once or twice recently. Or perhaps you've caught a glimpse — or even copped — the perfectly preppy le FLEUR* x Lacoste collab. I'm still eyeing that pleated skirt.
I'd also like to remind you that Lacoste secured notewortthy team-ups with COMME des GARÇONS SHIRT, EleVen by Venus Williams, and even us Highsnobs. Not to mention, Lacoste's sneakers have re-entered the spotlight, capturing the attention of the netizens who were once asleep to the brand's footwear offering.
Entering a new era, Lacoste has in turn found a new cool, as evidenced with its new stylish hits and buzzy collaborations. Lacoste FW24 is but another wake-up call, and this one rings, "Babe, wake up: new Lacoste just dropped and it's looking real good."
