Lacoste vs. Ralph Lauren Polo Shirts Compared

While they have lost some business in recent years due to a new generation of consumers with less classic taste, they have increased their spending on digital marketing. However, their company ethos remains the same, with Ralph Lauren once saying, “I don’t design clothes, I design dreams.”

The Ralph Lauren brand is very transparent on their website about how the polos are made, showing various features of the shirts, like the fact that each button is cross-stitched into place for more security. There is even a custom feature where buyers can choose from a variety of logos, from the classic polo player to a bulldog.

Lacoste

Lacoste are known as a brand with a sporty edge, as the polos were originally made for tennis players. On their website you can find a series of six different fabrics they use, from “The Pique,” which is their signature style, featuring durable, textured cotton, to “The Stretch,” featuring pique fabric that is more flexible and elastic, allowing for more movement.

The brand is also known for their environmentally friendly approach, following “the principles of sustainable development.” They don’t use cotton that comes from sources at risk of human rights violations.

Even greater, in 2018 they created a limited line of polos in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The brand made 1,775 polos featuring 10 threatened animal species as the logos and produced only the number of polos that corresponded to how many of those animals are left.

History

Lacoste

Rene Lacoste, a star tennis player in the 1920s, who was ranked as the world #1 in 1926 and 1927, was known as “the crocodile” because he “outlasted rather than overwhelmed his opponents.” He liked the nickname so much that he had a crocodile logo embroidered into his blazer.