"They called me 'the crocodile' not by my strength... but for my stubbornness to never let go of what I dreamed of. " 🐊🎾
I'm René Lacoste, and before my last name was on millions of shirts, I was just a skinny young man with a racket... and a dream no one understood. He didn't have the physique of a champion. They told me he was weak, he would never last on the court. But what they didn't know was that each criticism made me hungry. Hungry to prove that elegance and grit can go together. 🎾💪
Won Wimbledon, Roland Garros, Davis Cup... but my greatest battle wasn't on the court, it was against my own body. At 25, a lung disease almost took everything from me. I stopped competing, I stopped running, but I didn't stop dreaming. While I was recovering, it bothered me to wear uncomfortable clothes to workout... so i designed my own shirt: cotton, lightweight, with a soft neck and a small logo. And that logo... yes, it was a alligator. Because I was still there, biting life even though it hurt. 🐊🧵
Many mocked at the beginning. “Who’s going to wear a shirt with an alligator?” ”, they said. But when the best ones started asking for them, everything changed. I founded Lacoste with the idea that clothes aren't just seen... who inspires. And even though I suffered relapses, commercial betrayals and moments where I thought to give up everything, I never lost my essence. Because the crocodile doesn't back down. Never. 🧢🔥
"Lacoste wasn't born on a catwalk... was born on a hospital bed, with more faith than strength. " 🛏️🧠
"No matter how many times you've been told you don't fit in... if you're true to who you are, you'll end up rocking. ” 👕✨
– René Lacoste