French brand Lacoste has teamed up with IUCN’s SOS (Save Our Species) — a nature conservation charity — for a limited-edition collection of polo tshirts.
The tees have logos of endangered animal species instead of the green crocodile, and were launched on the runway during the brand’s show at last year’s Paris Fashion Week.
The 10 species represented by Lacoste – with the estimated remaining numbers – are: Vaquita (Gulf of California porpoise): 30, Burmese roofed turtle: 40, Northern sportive lemur: 50, Javan rhino: 67, Cao-vit gibbon (ape): 150, Kakapo (parrot): 157, California condor: 231, Saola (herbivore): 250, Sumatran tiger: 350, Anegada ground iguana: 450
“For the endangered species of this world, the crocodile abandons its ancestral place,” say Lacoste, who had previously never changed their green croc since its debut 85 years ago.
The globally recognized logo was designed as an homage to the brand’s founder René Lacoste, who was dubbed “The Crocodile” because of how he dealt with his opponents on the tennis court.
The new, limited edition logos were produced using the same green coloring and embroidery style as the crocodile.
Each of the 10 designs were produced in limited numbers, corresponding to the remaining population size of each species in the wild.
For example, just 350 polos were produced featuring the Sumatran Tiger, whose main threats are poaching and deforestation.
The smallest batch—at just 30 pieces—features the California porpoise, who due to overfishing is one of the most threatened mammal species ever.
Other species include the Burmese turtle, the northern weasel maki, the Java rhino, the eastern black crested gibbon, the kakapo, the California condor, the saola, and the Anegada iguana.
Each Save Our Species polo was retailed at $185, and the total collection of 1,775 are already sold out, with the profits of each sale donated to the IUCN conservation.
However, If you’d still like to contribute to the worthy cause, you can still donate via the Save Our Species website.
