Comments on: How To Spot A Fake Lacoste Polo Shirt and Other Pirated Clothing

By: djholly

djholly — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:19:13 +0000

hi, i’ve been buying lacoste clothing off ebay for the last 5 years. with the exception of 3 polo’s i’ve been very happy with the purchases. Brand new tops have to be treated as fakes until you’re happy with comparisons from the lascoste website. follow this and you won’t go far wrong. If buying seconhand on ebay, check the sellers other items and history. Your average seller won’t be able to get they’re hands on bnwt multiple polos.

By: Gup

Gup — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:44:37 +0000

“2) Crocodile Alignment – On men’s polos, the crocodile is on the left hand side, between the bottom stitching and the second button. In the image displayed, I want to draw your attention to the genuine blue Lacoste shirt on the right hand side labeled “Real” – notice how the crocodile logo is aligned directly between the lower button and the bottom stitching.”

This is not strictly true, I have a genuine sky blue lacoste polo (I know it’s real as I bought it from a lacoste shop in Florida for about $65) and the croc is aligned with the bottom stitching and not in between the lower button and the bottom stitching.

By: Max

Max — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:10:05 +0000

Even many LV or Valentino is made in Turkey etc… Forget about France-made garments except really top-expensive things.
The same for Lacoste.
Devenlay has several fabrics outside Europe where they made Lacoste.
Lacoste shoes is produced by Pentland (UK company, famous also for dooing Speedo etc. other brands) but of course produced outside UK – Viet Nam f/e.
Parfume is done by P&G etc.. etc…

Forget about French-made garments for a price below something 500 EUR.

By: James

James — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 05:40:49 +0000

My friend just bought polo shirts from shopapparel.lacoste.com I am surprised that he got them real cheap. when the items arrived, I was surprized to see that some are made in hongkong and others were made in tunisia. I cannot comment on the material as they seem ok..and the the packing also looks genuine. I know that all lacoste products would have made in france in their tags, except for the shoes…which i know are sometimes made in china…

By: max

max — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:06:18 +0000

You are pessimist, Ceschr
But those manufactures, who produce fake garments simply are not organized to pay attention to all details and to produce product which is really identical. And they do not aim to. They are focused on different market segments. F/e Lacoste Polo is “absorbing” it’s color thru the unique process which lasts at leas 13 hours (!). Who has time and patience to imitate that?
I have seen lots of faked polos, some really good, but none of them was done carefully enough. Thus it is STILL possible to find difference. But whilst buying you should concentrate on very small details and not generals.

As for original Lacoste outlets – they do not differ much. They do not differ at all. If we speak about the same model of course.
Sure, there are various models which differ – that’s why they are different models, right?

And collections are designed at Lacoste different way from if you compare with mass-market companies like Gap or Zarra. Lacoste has globals strategy today and tough control over design process. They quit with various partners (like Izod…) and today each type of product is produced only by sole company with global license. That was done to avoid varieties you speak about. F/e clothing is produced solely by Devanlay. For Paris, London or NYC. The same about belts, watches, fragrance, frames etc… etc… Sole global partner per division.
Simple and very efficient strategy.

By: Ceschr

Ceschr — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:47:10 +0000

Go to any department store and you will find variations in the patch placement depending on the color and size. (In fact, I just came back from Macey’s.) The buttons and material change too depending on the market/country. European outlets are much different than a US dept store.
It’s sad, but there is no sure way to buy an authentic product unless you buy it in a dept. store or brand store.

By: Silveraden

Silveraden — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:16:41 +0000

Wow, I was about to buy 3 shirts from a dealer and thanks I found this blog. Based on the example of crocodile alignment you posted, there is no doubt that the shirts I am about to buy are 100% fake… Thanks for this post..

By: Max

Max — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:17:47 +0000

to Bjorn
If It looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, than it’s probably a duck

I mean logo which is on the front. It is the easiest way to check if Lacoste is genuine. And Lacoste was in fact first who put logo on chest – that’s how they’ve changed standards in fact.
Label croco is different – one on chest has black eyes etc… and one on label is green and white.

As for about Italy – in department stores I was astonished to find enormous number of almost non-known local brands, with nice quality and medium prices.

I should say that I’m rather brand-sticker. 90% of all clothes I do have are from the same brands (4 in fact) including Lacoste… thus have not “tested” many other brands wearing, but have seen lots of other shirts in Italy looking nice “by-eye” and “by-touch” and “by-feeling”.

F/e internationally better known – Fabio di Nicola, maybe not the cheapest one but medium-priced. OVS (Oviesse), Bernardi…
Turkish group ABBATE also holds some medium-sized Italian manufactures.

German Rene Lezard, Mexx (Dutch) are good alternatives. Or cheaper Chinese Giordano, Turkish Collin’s still better I think than buying something fake.
Not to mention Groups like ZARA as everybody knows…
Also good idea to go for second and third branded lines – like Armani Exchange.

Going back to the topic – as general, there is no such thing like cheap Lacoste. Lacoste has done alot to be pointed as high-end fashion brand (in their segment of course). Like any other high-fashion brand it is member of French Fashion Federation, has well-known chief designer and takes part in Fashion weeks. They want to look “preppy”. They don’t want to be a mass-market product. They are sold only in boutiques or special corners with design, logo, trained personnel etc… etc…

And one more thing – Lacoste has a world-wide agreement with Devanlay Group – Lacoste clothing items producer. If Lacoste is not produced by Devanly – be sure, it’s not genuine (of course, I do not mean boots, belts, towels, various accessories etc. or old ones – 10 or more years old).

By: Bjorn

Bjorn — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:07:35 +0000

Thanks for answering Max! I took a closer look at the shirt after I red your response, and it seems real from what you told. The crocodile one the chest is very detailed, but the one on the tag (on the little note where you read the size of the shirt) didn’t have eyes. I could clairly see light trough the shirt when I held it up though, so I’m guessing it’s real Do you have any examples of good Italian brands? I’m always open for suggestions!
Thanks again!

By: Max

Max — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:28:28 +0000

There are several things to be noted, when buying Lacoste polo.
They have started to add new collections thus they do now produce 3-button, 2-button, with green logo, with silver logo, with 100% cotton or some elastine…
But what they do not change is what is written above (No 2) – Crocodile Logo is one of the most well-known logos in the world and Lacoste takes care of. Disregarding is it green, silver, bigger or smaller (like f/e on some new collections or oxford etc. shirts), attached higher or lower – it is very carefully done. You can easily see eye, teeth – all details. And color is vivid.

Also as it is mentioned by Del below – shirt is always very light and well-done. It “breathes” and you can see light thru if you look.

In fact there is no real reason buying fake product, when you can always find less expensive but genuine alternative.
Lacoste is a grate brand but not the only one. There are plenty of almost the same quality Italian or even Turkish textile fabrics, for a half or even less price.

By: chianayne

chianayne — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:26:57 +0000

Hi,

I dont think that the shirts selling at shopapparel.com(lacoste)is fake..

By: Bjorn

Bjorn — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:01:54 +0000

Hi! First of all, thanks for a great article! But I still have a few questions, and would be very glad if someone could help me out.

Today, I went to a store and bought a Lacoste Polo Shirt just like this one: http://www.hipleeds.com/?i=5963

I read somewhere that the lacoste logo on the tag was supposed to have two eyes, but on mine you can’t se the eyes. Does this make my shirt fake?

I also noticed that it’s not 100% cotton, but I see they sell the same shirt from a lacoste website (http://shopapparel.lacoste.com/p/Red-Collection-Short-Sleeve-Stretch-Polo-with-Contrast-Color-Trim/B001NDHI58) with 94% cotton and 6% elastane. So, does anyone know if it’s real or fake?

Thanks for reading!

By: Ma Neta Ji

Ma Neta Ji — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 10:15:14 +0000

Hey not all lacoste shirts have a pearl button many shirts displayed on their website have different colors. I just bought a few shirts from a street vendor but they were fake
I found that out through the LOGO thanks this article was really informative

By: Bella

Bella — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:00:26 +0000

Now they can copy it even better:) thanks.

By: Yaser

Yaser — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:58:44 +0000

there’s a store in UK, scotts, in which the logo aligns with bottom stitch!!