Izod Lacoste was a brand name of sportswear licensed to Izod

Izod

Izod is a clothing company that produces dressy-casual clothing and sportswear for men and women, also including fragrances, and accessories. Similar to brands such as Gant U.S.A., Lacoste, and Polo Ralph Lauren, it is part of the Phillips-Van Heusen Company, headquartered at 200 Madison Ave., New...

 by Lacoste from 1952-1993.

Success

In 1953, David Crystal, the owner of Izod

Izod

Izod is a clothing company that produces dressy-casual clothing and sportswear for men and women, also including fragrances, and accessories. Similar to brands such as Gant U.S.A., Lacoste, and Polo Ralph Lauren, it is part of the Phillips-Van Heusen Company, headquartered at 200 Madison Ave., New...

, bought 50% of the rights to market Lacoste in America. The "Izod" brand was already established there. "Lacoste" was added to enhance the brand's prestige and introduce the name to American markets. The resulting union of the two companies was the piqué

Pique

Piqué, or marcella, refers to a weaving style, normally used with cotton yarn, which is characterized by raised parallel cords or fine ribbing. Twilled cotton and corded cotton are close relatives....

 polo/tennis shirt. When the shirts began to sell well, Crystal decided to keep the combined name. The brand hit its peak popularity in the late '70s and early '80s when the "preppy

Preppy

Preppy, preppie, or prep refers to a modern, widespread United States clique, often considered a subculture...

" look became mainstream, with many nationwide department stores featuring separate "Izod/Lacoste" shops, with jackets, sweaters and a wide variety of other apparel. During this period annual sales reached $150 million for the shirts alone.

Decline

The "preppy" trend cooled in the late 1980s and the brand became overexposed . The market was also saturated with knock-off replicas. The name was split in the early 1990s when Crystal sought to expand company sales. Lacoste moved upmarket in an attempt to recapture its "elite" status. Meanwhile, Izod was re-introduced as mid-range apparel. While this tactic worked for a short period, it could not support Crystal's company, which was heavily in debt due to poor investments in other brands such as "Salty Dog", and "Gant"

Gant U.S.A.

GANT is a formerly Swedish but currently Swiss clothing brand of American heritage launched in New Haven in 1949. The brand has since then been further developed, being influenced by European styles, and is now a global clothing business...

. The marketing license was ended in the mid-1990s after his company became too financially burdened. In 1993, he sold his 50% share of Lacoste to Sportloisirs S.A. (who originally marketed the shirt in France). When the company folded shortly thereafter, Izod was sold to the shirtmaker Van Heusen. They are now collapsed and no longer make clothing.

The Present

Izod and Lacoste both continue to produce similar piqué polo shirts, and are often mistakenly believed to be the same company. Lacoste polo shirts have the crocodile logo, while Izod has a monogram crest. Izod has had a number of re-positioning

Positioning (marketing)

In marketing, positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization....

s in the market place (its current image being mid and upper-market, with its Izod/Luxury line). Lacoste has only recently become available again in the United States, though its current positioning remains entirely upscale

Luxury good

Luxury goods are products and services that are not considered essential and associated with affluence.The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies...

. Both brands continue to be popular.