At the recent New York Fashion Week, designer Felipe Oliveira Baptista of Lacoste, endowed the iconic sportswear label with original new prints which have been inspired by the brand’s sporty elements like tennis balls, rackets and courts and crocodiles, all of which are arranged along a quasi kinetic pattern, thereby giving the illusion of plain all-over prints.
Adding to Lacoste’s graphic identity, Felipe Oliveira Baptista went through the house archives from the 1980’s, where he found the inspiration for his asymmetrical color blocks applied to oversize t-shirts. Flowing lines, comfortable luxury and a certain pragmatism are what transpire from the creative director’s new direction.
For women, the looser polo dress comes in crocodile-embossed white nappa leather laminated onto jersey. Introducing graphics within a predominantly light wardrobe, the asymmetrical color blocks are subtly worked as intarsia into the jersey dresses.
Faithful to René Lacoste’s tradition of developing techno-sport fabrics, the collection offers a plastic raincoat whose seams are welded instead of stitched.
The collection offers a rich chromatic palette which, rooted in pure white, moves on to assimilate pearly greys, pale yellows and light blues. Contrasts are high, brought on by the navy, red, electric blue and dark orange that are mixed with the lighter tones of the collection.