HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE BUYING A GENUINE LACOSTE SHIRT
If you want to make sure that you are buying a genuine Lacoste shirt, and not wasting your hard-earned money on an inferior imitation, there are several things you need to look out for. The cost is not an indication that the shirt is genuine because, sadly, there are plenty of suppliers and online sellers out there who are willing to sell fake shirts at inflated prices; to make unsuspecting customers believe they're buying the real-deal. Would you believe us if we told you 90% of Lacoste items sold on eBay are counterfeit? Here's what you should be looking out for to make sure you're buying genuine Lacoste:
Logo: Perhaps the easiest way to tell a genuine Lacoste shirt from a fake is the crocodile logo.
Being Lacoste's most distinguishable feature, you'd think counterfeiters would make sure they get this right - but that's not always the case. The logo should be a dark green colour with well-defined body parts, including individual teeth and claws! The jaw should angle upwards, the same as the tail. However, the one thing the fakers struggle to get right is the quality of the stitching, and this is usually fairly obvious. A genuine logo will be stitched to the shirt from the inside and should have a white background - a fake is easy to tell apart as they usually have messy stitching on the inside. If you have doubts about your shirts authenticity, the quality of the logo is definitely the clearest giveaway.
Logo alignment: Apart from the design of the logo, fakers also have trouble getting the position of the logo correct. First off, the logo is always stitched onto the left hand side of the shirt. Secondly, on a shirt, the logo will be level with the second button down (not counting the top collar button) and on their classic L1212 polos it will be level with the neck opening and armpit.
Sizing: This is another easy one - instead of using traditional size labels, Lacoste uses numbering to indicate size on their labels. This will appear alongside their high quality logo.
Buttons: Another clear giveaway for counterfeits are the shirts buttons. Genuine Lacoste have mother-of-pearl buttons that are clearly defined in shape and are well-finished. They have a slight inner bevel and two button holes. Given the natural features of mother-of-pearl, each button should have slight differences.
Fabric: Whilst fake shirts have improved considerably over the years in terms of quality, genuine Lacoste shirts use a unique petit pique weave throughout their collection. This differs from a standard hex or honeycomb weave that many fakes still use. The weave should also be good quality, and you shouldn't be able to see skin through the fabric.
Packaging: Genuine Lacoste garments will arrive with high quality packaging that has a high quality, printed logo on the front. If the packaging uses thin cellophane or features a low quality logo, it's almost definitely a fake.
Does your shirt pass all 6 of these tests? Then you can be pretty sure it's genuine. Want an easier way to make sure you're buying genuine? Then make sure you only buy from us at Designerwear; we're an official stockist of Lacoste, so you can be confident you'll receive genuine products.