On the eve of its 80th anniversary, LACOSTE pays tribute to the visionary spirit of its founder René Lacoste by taking his most legendary invention, the L.12.12 polo shirt, into the future.

In the mid-20s, tennis champion René Lacoste manufactured for his own personal use shirts to withstand the heat on American tennis courts. It was the invention of the polo shirt and the first time a player eschewed long sleeves and wore a soft and comfortable short-sleeved garment. René Lacoste signed each shirt with his emblem, the crocodile, marking the birth of a new genre of clothing and a new way of communicating. In 1933, René Lacoste launched industrial scale production of the polo shirt he called L.12.12. L for LACOSTE, 1 refers to the Cotton Petit Piqué fabric, 2 to the Short Sleeve style, and 12 to the number of prototypes made before René Lacoste gave his approval.

The brand has chosen the symbolic date of 12/12/12 to unveil a film featuring the polo shirt in a future where textile technology has no limits. The film, showcases the future of the polo shirt in a timeless Paris where the public can follow an eclectic cast of characters that interact with a new generation of clothing. The polo travelled through time and remained as René Lacoste had imagined it 80 years before: timeless, comfortable and stylish. But its powers are enhanced by extreme technology. Its fibers are now intelligent, its surface is dynamic and tactile, its sleeves lengthen and shorten at the whim of its owner. The dye of the polo reacts to the environment, glows in the night, absorbs ambient atmospheres. And its colors are endless. At the end of the film, Internet users are asked to project themselves into the visionary spirit of René Lacoste to design and share their vision of the ultimate polo. A dedicated Facebook application on the LACOSTE fan page gives a voice to users, allowing them to submit, in a few words, their proposals. The most original visions will be brought to life by an artist, then illustrated and featured on the fan page of the brand to their 10 million fans until December 31st 2012.

http://youtu.be/mUnOjYv9uDU