Lacoste has been the signature preppy brand for almost a century and little has changed in terms of their look but a collaboration with Catherine Malandrino bring new excitement to this classic brand.

Lacoste which has always kept it designing to in house, has collaborated with an out of house designer for the first time. The lucky designer is French Designer Catherine Malandrino who is mostly known for her ulta feminine dresses with a bit of an edge to them. This results of this collaboration can best be described as being feminine sporty. Catherine says she was excited to expand into the world of activewear and was very careful to not take away from what Lacoste has stood for this past almost century. Hopefully this collaboration will inspire to reach out to other designers and see how they can interpret this iconic brand.

The LACOSTE + MALANDRINO The Cool Shirt is a great shirt that does not take away from the signature Lacoste style or comfort but adds some new cuts and design elements to it. This long sleeve shirt has a foldover collar which is a signature look for almost all Lacoste shirts. The pique cotton material is not as common with Lacoste shirts but it is not a shocking material to be used either. What makes this shirt different from a standard Lacoste shirt though is the 9 buttons closure, 3/4 length dolman sleeves, and new logo. This shirt is available in white and Aloe Green, both of which are great choices.

Please click on the links and pics to buy or for more information and pictures.

LACOSTE + MALANDRINO The Cool Shirt

You can wear this shirt with the shirt above ( or similar one ) to show off an all over preppy look or you can pair it with  pants, jeans, or shorts if you want a less preppy look.

One of the biggest trends for summer is a retro preppy look and it is easy to achieve this look by wearing Lacoste. Lacoste has been around since the 1930s when they created innovative white knit tennis shirts with a crocodile logo embroidered at the chest. In the 50s the brand expanded to add colored polo shirts, hoping to capture an audience of other sports genres. The popularity grew immensely with this expansion of colors and in the 1980s. In fact, Lacoste was THE MUST HAVE signature piece to any preppy’s wardrobe. It was also in the 80s when Lacoste branched out from shirts and starting designing shorts, fragrances, sunglasses, tennis shoes, boating shoes, sweaters, and leather goods. While the popularity of Lacoste has waned a bit, it is still the signature brand for the preppy look. Lacoste has also gone back to its tennis routes in the past few years due to top tennis players including Andy Roddick have begun to wear this brand on the court.  Now in 2011 the preppy look and Lacoste are a big trend so find a great shirt, sweater, or dress to wear.

Whenever the brand Lacoste is mentioned the first thing that comes to mind is their signature polo shirt with crocodile logo on the chest. This shirt is available in every color of the rainbow and even multiple shades of a color.The womens shirts are made in a fine cotton stretch and have a slim fit to them and are long in length so you can easily wear these shirts tucked or untucked.

Lacoste Womens Aumur Polo Shirts

Lacoste has a great line of v neck sweaters, some are a  solid color with a  stripe accent and others have  all over stripes These sweaters are casual preppy sweater that of course has the signature green crocodile on the chest.  The light weight stretchy cotton is slim fit and has long slim sleeves. This is a great sweater to wear with short, jeans, or over a dress. Since the sweaters are light weight and thin, you can throw one in your bag or tie it around your shoulders until needed.

Lacoste V Neck Pull Over Sweaters

My favorite of all the Lacoste Summer 2011 items are the polo style dresses. Like the shirts, these dresses are a stretch cotton with buttons and a collar. The Lacoste dresses have a long slim skirt with small slits at the sides and are knee length. You can wear them with sandals, ballet flats, or flip flops. The dress comes in two versions, one is a solid color and the other has a contrasting stripe piping along the collar, button plackets, and the arm holes. Both versions are perfect for a casual weekend day or perhaps a day at the office, if permitted.

Lacoste Short Sleeve Polo Dresses

Lacoste is a brand that has been around for almost a century and should be around for at least 100 more at the rate they are going. As long as they continue to design clothing that is classic and preppy there will be an audience to wear this brand.  Make sure to click on any of the links above to learn more about these great Lacoste shirts, dresses, and sweaters as well as to find other great Lacoste clothes and accessories.