Rene LACOSTE entered the legend of tennis when he and his team-mates "The Musketeers", stole the Davis Cup away from the Americans for the first time, in 1927.

Rene LACOSTE was born in France on 2nd July 1904 and died on 12th October 1996.

"I was nicknamed "the Alligator" by the American press, after I made a bet with Captain of the French Davis Cup Team concernig a suitcase made from alligator skin. He rpomised to buy it for me if I won a very important match for our team. The public must have been fond of this nickname which conveyed the tenacity I displayed on the tennis courts, never letting go of my prey!"

In 1933, Rene LACOSTE and Andre GILLER, the owner and President of the largest French knitwear manufacture the logo-embroidered shirt. The champion had designed this for his own use on the tennis court, as well as a number of other shirts for tennis, golf and sailing - as can be seen in the first catalogue, produced in 1933.

To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time that a brand name appeared on the become extremely successful.