To raise awareness about the extinction of threatened species, Lacoste began a three-year partnership last year with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, joining forces to help support conservation action on the ground.
As a result, Lacoste created 10 limited-edition polo shirts, with the iconic crocodile leaving its usual spot to 10 threatened species. The number of polo shirts produced matches the number of animals known to remain in the wild.
On May 22, for the International Day for Biological Diversity, nine Lacoste stores around the world, along with lacoste.com, will be fully dedicated to the cause and will put the spotlight on one specific species. All profits from this day from the nine stores and lacoste.com will be donated to help IUCN’s efforts to conserve threatened wildlife. The polo will retail for $185.
For example, the Lacoste store on Broadway in New York, will feature the North Atlantic Right Whale, which has 444 remaining; the Paris store on the Champs-Élysées will feature the Iberian Lynx, with 589 remaining; the London store in Covent Garden will feature the Yemeni Mouse-Tailed Bat, with 150 remaining, the Tokyo store in Shibuya will showcase the Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat, with 115 remaining, while lacoste.com will feature The Hawaiian Monk Seal, with 1,400 remaining.
Other threatened species that are featured on polo shirts at specific Lacoste stores are the Opal Goodeid (sold in Los Angeles), 150 remain; The Mountain Chicken (in Miami), 132 remain; the Addax (in Berlin), 90 remain; the Cebu Damselfly (in Shanghai); 50 remain, and the Moheli Scops Owl (in Seoul), 400 remain.