Hasta La Ideas

I remember my very first Lacoste experience. I wore one of their polos to my first day of kindergarten (yes, I was way ahead of my time). I was so proud of the shirt that I went up to my teacher and said with boyish excitement, “Look! I have a crocodile on my shirt!” Fast forward to today and I still get excited when I don one of their polos. I go up to total strangers on the street and say with boyish excitement, “Look! I have a crocodile on my shirt!” In any matter, the crocodile has become synonymous with the savvy sportswear brand since Rene Lacoste started it over 75 years ago. To celebrate Lacoste’s chic crocodile, they have created a collection of shoes that cleverly incorporates mythologies associated with crocodiles all around the world. The Ogata India is inspired by Hindu temple motifs and tells the ancient myth of the Hindu philosopher Shankara and his relationship with the Mugger Crocodile. The Tennis Polynesia uses rich brown tones of the New Guinea Crocodile and wood carvings of the Nuga, a half man half crocodile that is associated with the creation of the world. The urban legend of monstrous crocodiles in the sewers of New York City are showcased in the street-chic Revan 3 NYC, and the Rene Lacoste Japan (my personal favorite) tells the story of a blind men who was left to drown by his cruel sons via a gorgeous crocodile skin print upper inspired from traditional Japanese silk kimono. The other styles in the limited collection are created from crocodile mythologies from South Africa, Egypt, West Africa and Brazil. See some pics of the collection in the slideshow, then read more about these crocodile myths at www.lacostecrocmyths.com.