René Lacoste and the US: a real love affair.
You'd be forgiven for thinking that the Lacoste story was written on the other side of the Atlantic, where René Lacoste felt just as much at home. Nickname, victories, ideas... he got them all in the US. He even found the love of his life over there.
Awarding of the U.S. Championship Cup to René Lacoste, Forest Hills, 1927 © Lacoste family archives.
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And the Crocodile was born
In 1923, nineteen-year-old René Lacoste arrived on American soil for the first time to compete in the Davis Cup inter-zone final. In the streets of Boston, a crocodile-skin suitcase caught his eye: "If I win, you buy me that suitcasat!" he said to his coach... On the courts, the French tennis hopeful excelled to such an extent that journalists, aware of the anecdote about the suitcase, gave him a nickname that would change his destiny: the "crocodile". After all, René Lacoste "never lets go of his prey". The young champion and his French sidekicks, covered with glory, didn't win, but for René Lacoste it was a revelation. He would undoubtedly return to the US.
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Many summers. One idea.
René Lacoste's career took off, as did the opportunities he had to play tennis in the United States, in singles or as part of a team. René Lacoste recalls these summers in his book, Tennis: "... But what mattered most to me was summertime in the United States, preceded or followed by rest and relaxation with a cheerful youth on the great French liners between Le Havre and New York. The United States were symbolised by our stays in Boston, Philadelphia and New York, where the humid heat, sun-scorched afternoons and non-air-conditioned nights quickly allowed us to shed the 4 or 5 kilos needed following the 5 or 6 days we'd spent on the France, the Paris or the Ile-de-France".
It was this American heat that would inspire him to make his very first shirt. It was also during one of these crossings that he met someone who would change his life... forever.
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Love at first sight on the Transatlantic
1927. René Lacoste, victorious in the U.S. Championship, boards the liner Ile-de-France bound for Le Havre. Also on board was a young golf champion who caught René's eye. Her name? Simone Thion de la Chaume, a French golfer who had just competed in the United States Women's Amateur Golf Championship. Accompanied by her parents, she was also on her way home.
A few days earlier, Simone had witnessed René's achievement. Yes, she was in the stands at Forest Hills Stadium when Lacoste beat Bill Tilden, the invincible American", and it's even said that if René changed tactics during the match, it was to impress the young woman... The complicity between the acclaimed Frenchman and the up-and-coming women's golfer was so obvious that as soon as they arrived in France, the press was already talking about the possibility of a romance. René and Simone married in 1930. It was thanks to her that the crocodile brand established its roots beyond the tennis courts and onto the golf course.
"Throughout my life, I have always felt a great deal of both attraction and gratefulness towards America. The American spirit and generosity marked me to such an extent that I feel almost as American as I do French." René Lacoste
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Victories, panache... and a stadium
"Victory in the 1927 U.S. Championship, but also, a few days earlier, a superb individual and collective victory in the Davis Cup in front of twelve thousand spectators. René Lacoste felt right at home on the other side of the Atlantic. Henri Cochet, Jean Borotra and Jacques Brugnon were never far away, raising cups alongside him, so much so that the French phenomenon was unanimously hailed by the American press. "The United States were also synonymous with the pleasure of playing on grass, which I always preferred to clay, in the presence of crowds that were as impartial as they were enthusiastic, applauding the cups of the 'little Frenchies' as much as those of their domestic champions," recalls René Lacoste in Tennis.
In France, it was following their Davis Cup victory that journalist Paul Champ gave them the famous nickname of "Les Mousquetaires". "America, continues René Lacoste, "was also about fratricidal yet always joyful battles with Cochet and Borotra on the courts of Forest Hills." The "Musketeers" were born, in reference to the camaraderie and panache of the French players.
It was in celebration of a victorious France that, in 1928, a new stadium was built on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. The "Musketeers", led by René Lacoste, were so successful that Racing Club de France and Stade Français were far too small to host the next Davis Cup final. The name of this new tennis temple? Roland-Garros. Lacoste became an official partner in 1971.
Roland-Garros stadium, René Lacoste against Jean Borotra © DR.
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A crocodile without boundaries
"The rest is history. After ten years of a successful tennis career punctuated by many return trips to the United States, René Lacoste launched his iconic polo shirt in 1933. It is said that his penchant for patenting ideas stemmed from meetings with American industrialists during his many crossings. In an ultimate tribute, in 1955, the American tennis team wore the iconic Lacoste polo shirt at the Davis Cup. In an interview for the Geneva Rendez-Vous in 1990, René Lacoste recalled: "Throughout my life, I have always felt a great deal of both attraction and gratefulness towards America. The American spirit and generosity marked me to such an extent that I feel almost as American as I do French."
Following in the footsteps of René Lacoste, who pushed the boundaries and embodied team spirit, the brand now has communities in every corner of the globe. United, under the sign of the crocodile. "
The American team wears Lacoste polo shirts in the 1955 Davis Cup © DR.
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