Molly Ringwald's career. Mega-perms. Hulk Hogan. Some things, popular as they were in the '80s, officially died once the Vanilla Ice Age came about.
Thanks to this phenomenon, I haven't seen too many guys wandering around Charlottesville these days sporting the Velcro sneakers, short shorts, or bowl cuts of their youth.
But then there's an entirely different category of '80s paraphernalia, a la Bon Jovi, giant hoop earrings or Twister. These fads seemed to die out with the advent of the '90s, but have recently resurfaced, rekindling the inner '80s child in all of us.
Another case in point: Lacoste shirts.
As much as they feign disinterest in fashion, guys are still proud to think they've stylistically evolved into their collegiate staples of New Balances, khakis and frat shags. But childhood photos will reveal that most guys I know were sporting the same Lacoste shirt when they were five as they do now. It was just smaller.
In the midst of winter, it's hard to fully realize the Lacoste resurgence. Most shirts are hidden under layers of sweaters and fleeces. But last summer and fall, everyone's favorite little reptile was the toast of the town in preppy enclaves along the East Coast. And it's a safe bet that come spring, the Lacoste boom will be even bigger.
Let's pause a minute here and get the Lacoste story, courtesy of where else but the company Web site. There's actually a history section on the site that you can go to, although I don't really see why the average person would do this. So, luckily, you have me, who happens to have a lot of free time, to do the geeky work for you. Here goes.
The alligator symbol and brand name come from Rene Lacoste, a French tennis player in the 1930s. The American press nicknamed him "the Alligator" because of a bet he supposedly made with someone over an alligator suitcase. One of his friends designed an alligator emblem that Lacoste had embroidered on his tennis shirt, and the brand took off.
The Web site also helps explain a puzzling phenomenon of the Lacoste resurgence -- why the brand is so much more darn expensive now than when we were growing up. The reason Lacoste shirts used to be cheap, from what I glean from the site, is because by the '80s, Lacoste didn't tightly control production of alligator-bedecked shirts. Instead, it had licensed its logo to several different production companies throughout the world.
But in the early '90s, the Lacoste Group recaptured control over the legendary logo, and now only one supplier supervises manufacturing. Hence, the Lacoste Group has had the power to reincarnate the brand as luxury apparel. A men's polo shirt will cost you around $70, a little boy's about $50. And with the price hike came the status hike -- the swanky Lacoste store on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach opened in 1995.
Lacoste stores (718 of them, to be exact) have popped up all over the world in a rather surprising variety of countries and regions. Who knew there were preppy people in Estonia? Or that they wear polo shirts in Angola? In fact, the United States seems a little bit late in the game. Compared with the rest of the world, the nine boutiques we host seem downright paltry.
Of course, another notable difference in today's Lacoste craze lies in the addition of a key new target group: women. Maybe they made Lacoste for women in the '70s and '80s, but if they did, it certainly never took off as it has today. Now, their downsized version of the polo is available for women in a variety of stores, from local boutiques to Bloomingdales.
Not everyone has alligator fever. Some see the brand as nothing exciting, merely Polo with a different animal. And I will concede that I'm hesitant to shell out $70 for the same shirt my little brother used to spill chocolate milk on two decades ago.
Such reservations haven't stopped the world from purchasing an average of 25 million Lacoste products every year. The company that started with an alligator on a tennis shirt now makes shoes, perfume, underwear, watches, eyewear and golf bags.
This spring, you might get to a point where seeing one more guy clad in an Easter-egg colored Lacoste shirt will make you scream. And seeing one more Lacoste collar flipped up might actually drive you to physical violence. But you've got to give that little gator some credit. He's still got a lot of bite after 75 years.
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