In which year was Lacoste founded?

Lacoste was founded in 1933.

René Lacoste and André Gillier founded La Société Chemise Lacoste in 1933, shortly after Lacoste’s professional tennis career. Gillier was a clothing manufacturer and entrepreneur, while Lacoste supplied the sporting insight behind the company’s innovative tennis shirt.

The business was built around a short-sleeved, knitted piqué shirt that Lacoste had designed for athletic play. Its breathable fabric, flexible cut, flat collar, and longer back hem were more practical than the long-sleeved, formal tennis clothing common at the time. The famous crocodile was embroidered on the chest.

The company’s founding year is sometimes confused with earlier dates connected to Lacoste’s career: he introduced the shirt on court in the 1920s, and the crocodile emblem appeared before the company itself was formed. Later licensing arrangements also made “Izod Lacoste” familiar in the United States, but they did not change the brand’s 1933 founding date.