Lacoste Temporarily Replaces Crocodile Logo for Wildlife Conservation Campaign

Popular French clothing brand Lacoste has substituted its iconic crocodile logo with images of the ten most endangered species in the world to promote wildlife conservation.

As part of its 85^th anniversary celebration, Lacoste paid tribute to its founders and their environmental advocacy by collaborating with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for a three-year deal. The brand pledged to support IUCN’s Save Our Species campaign by producing a line of limited edition shirts.

Launched during Lacoste’s runway show at the Paris Fashion Week last March, the $185 shirts feature logos of each endangered species.

The brand produced a total of 1,775 shirts, a figure that reflects the total number of all the featured animals at risk. In addition, the number of shirts produced for each logo represents the remaining population of the featured threatened species. The Anegada ground iguana has the highest population at 450, while the Gulf of California porpoise  / ˈpɔr pəs / has the lowest with only 30 of them left.

Since the crocodile logo’s launch in 1936, Lacoste had not used any other animal for its logo. However, the brand decided to make an exception this time because it aims to raise public awareness of the plight of endangered species. According to Lacoste, purchasing a shirt is equivalent to supporting the cause of the company and the IUCN in the preservation of wildlife.

Another fashion brand has also participated in wildlife conservation. In 2016, H&M featured endangered animals as prints on various garments in the autumn collection of its children’s line. The featured endangered animals were the tiger, panda, snow leopard / ˈlɛp ərd /, and polar bear. The Swedish fashion label gave 10% of the collection’s sales to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to support the latter’s wildlife conservation projects.