FASHION Magazine

By Ceri Marsh

Christophe Lemaire is tired. Slouching on a low banquette at New York’s Tribeca Grand Hotel, wearing skinny trousers and a V-neck sweater, he swipes his long fringe out of his eyes. You’ll have to forgive him; he hasn’t had much sleep. Last night was the unveiling of his first New York runway show for Lacoste. Then, of course, there was the after-party, and now it’s 1 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, and he has already sat through several interviews. But as well as being party-pooped, Lemaire is simply relieved. The show was a hit.

The Fall 2006 show was a happy mix of old-school hip-hop shapes and Crayola-bright colours—think knit mini-dresses in turquoise, topped by cropped purple puffas, and finished with moon boots and long stripe-y scarves. The collection was filled with the kind of goodies—the scarves and boots and adorable hats—to inspire Lacoste’s youthful intended audience to open their wallets. Models emerged from a brightly lit, giant boom box at the back of the runway. Girls were spotted with early-’80s side ponytails, and males with afros not seen since 1976. It may have been hip-hop, but there was no bling and no booty-shaking. Lemaire’s affection for street style comes by way of De La Soul (which played throughout the show) and Jamel Shabazz’s photography collection Back in the Days.

Of course, there’s nothing new about heritage brands hiring youngish designers to dust off their images. As well as having had his own line, Lemaire, 41, put in time with such French houses as Thierry Mugler, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Lacroix before landing the top job at Lacoste. Wanting to pick up a little street edge has also become de rigueur for many big brands. Tommy Hilfiger, anyone? But Lemaire felt the pressure to bring the classic French sportswear brand into the future in the right way.

“I am trying to tell something a bit original, because doing just a hip-hop show would have been very not interesting,” he confesses. “I wanted it to be a bit cartoon.”

It’s a move that Lacoste is betting won’t alienate its current core audience of sports-loving men and will attract female buyers looking for style more than performance. “I try to be very careful to stick to the fundamentals of the brand. I am not going to reinvent Lacoste. I just translate it in a contemporary way.”

But it’s not enough to reimagine a clothing line anymore. Tom Ford did away with that slack notion by masterminding every minutia of the Gucci look during his tenure. Lemaire is, therefore, involved in the total look of the brand, from ads of models flying through space, which echo vintage photographs of René Lacoste himself playing tennis, to the architectural statement being made by the redesign of Lacoste boutiques.

Maybe it’s the hangover, or maybe it’s queasiness at seeming too slick, but Lemaire takes pains to point out that there is still magic and art in the brave new world of label über-control.

“At one point, you have to let it go,” he says, slapping his hands together for emphasis. “You have to let the irrational things happen. Otherwise, it’s dead.”

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