Monday, November 16, 2009

Izod/Lacoste Scarf

My old Izod Lacoste scarf

One of the few articles of clothing that my mother actually saved from my childhood is this Izod/Lacoste scarf. I hope to give it to Alex someday in the near future.

According to Wikipedia, the history of Izod/Lacoste seemed like a match made in heaven:
In 1953, David Crystal, the owner of Izod, bought 50% of the rights to market Lacoste in America. The "Izod" brand was already established there. "Lacoste" was added to enhance the brand's prestige and introduce the name to American markets. The resulting union of the two companies was the piqué polo/tennis shirt. When the shirts began to sell well, Crystal decided to keep the combined name. The brand hit its peak popularity in the late 70's and early 80's when the "preppy" look became mainstream, with many nationwide department stores featuring separate "Izod/Lacoste" shops, with jackets, sweaters and a wide variety of other apparel. During this period annual sales reached $150 million for the shirts alone.

The name was split in the early 1990s when Crystal sought to expand company sales. Lacoste moved upmarket in an attempt to recapture its "elite" status. Meanwhile, Izod was re-introduced as mid-range apparel.
Maybe Izod and Lacoste should come back together to make affordable clothing and accessories for us on a budget. I think both companies could use some positive blogger buzz.

12 comments:

  1. I liked them better when Izod made them. They seemed to have longer shirt tails.

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  2. I hear you. I just can't get behind lacoste anymore.

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  3. I adore that scarf! How great that you can share it with your (adorable) son. xoxo

    SC

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  4. Skip unrelated but I noticed they re-turffed Frawley stadium.

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  5. I'm uber jealous. I was at Lacoste the other day and they had, in the children's section, a white sweater with an alligator knitted into it (like those notorious Christmas sweaters). I couldn't squeeze myself into it (believe me, I tried, much to the horror of the sales associates), but it might fit Alex.

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  6. @Brian Coolness. We should go and catch a game next spring.

    @Dale I had a similar experience at abercrombie about 7 years ago. I didn't realize that I was shopping in little (lower case) abercrombie.

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  7. Izod was the death knell for Lacoste. The integrity of the brand was attenuated to the point of mass market mediocrity. Lacoste made the brave and brilliant move to pull the brand from the U.S. market and allowed the painful passing of time to let the brand regain a higher quality cache once again.

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  8. I never thought of it in that way. Makes perfect sense.

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  9. Izod/Lacoste Scarf

    lacoste scarf is better than gucci's

    think so

    alligator shirt
    lacoste womens shirts

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  10. izod scrafs are way better then any other brand..

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  11. This is really great,unique and very informative post, i like it. thanksdistressed jacket

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