Born out of the inner city Banlieues of places like Paris & Marseille, the origins of Lacoste TN style started back in the late 90s.
Growing up as a kid I visited France probably more than a handful of times during the 90s whether it was a 7 day stint at a Eurocamp somewhere near Bayeux or passing through the urban neighbourhoods of Rennes, I quickly became fasincated with French street culture. I remember spotting a group of teenagers in a local park rolling a spliff, stood around graffiti tags & multi-coloured 50CC Peugeot scooters with full Lacoste tracksuits, sovereign rings & Air Max Plus trainers on feet. At 12 I was aware of brands like Lacoste, but the passion would come a bit later in my late teens. It was strictly sportswear for me at this age, where I was use to wearing adidas tracky pants from JJB’s & All Sports, these lads were clad head to toe in crocodiles & TN’s, a look which I became intrigued with. The tracksuits weren’t just Lacoste tracksuits either, they were styles you knew for a fact you couldn’t buy in the UK. Before we had the internet it was literally catalogues or shopping in a stockist or flagship store. The sounds of French hip hip could also be heard booming through a portable tape deck, as these guys carried on their business blazing homegrown from Bordeaux, without knowing it at the time it was this moment that I became fixated with subculture, the styles associated with them and the various music genres of the streets. A passion that would later lead to writing about subcultures & clothes for a living.
Above: Supreme’s collaboration with Lacoste from 2018 took clear design inspiration from early noughties’ Lacoste TN style.
You’ve probably seen the whole “Lacoste TN style” across Tik Tok & Insta in recent years. Not to be confused with the “eshay” subculture of Sydney, although they do take traits of it, wearing Lacoste tracksuits & Air Max TN’s was born on the streets of inner city Banlieues in places like Paris & Marseille in the late 90s & early noughties. A subculture which has now spread to French speaking countries like Algeria in North Africa, there’s more to the style than just an embroidered crocodile & some brightly coloured TN’s. From a UK perspective you could compare it with the whole Scally thing from Liverpool, but with Lacoste TN Style particularly it represents more, politically, than just Scouse House & Steven Gerard waiting outside Wade Smith for a boxfresh pair of “Reebs”.
Above: La Haine from 1995 gave a unique insight into French street culture & its associated styles from the mid 90s.
Born out of the whole civil unrest in France during the 90s where Banlieues across Lyon & Paris saw days of rioting against police brutality and poor living conditions. Intertwined with street culture and France’s homegrown hip hop scene, the Paris riots were famously brought to life in 1995 courtesy of Mathieu Kassovitz with La Haine which gives us a real life insight into the nitty gritty Banlieues of inner city Paris during the mid 90s. Featuring iconic clothing styles such as Sergio Tacchini tracksuits, Carhartt beanies & Lacoste polo shirts, La Haine is something like the equivalent of ‘The Football Factory’ reigniting “Designer Casual” in the mid noughties here in the UK to France’s streetwear scene in the mid 90s.
Above: Legendary French hip hop duo Ärsenik wearing Lacoste tracksuits.
Nowadays some people might it call chav, but remind them of that 2 Stroke petrol smell from a bright yellow Peugeot Speedfight scooter, the whole chav thing soon turns into nostalgia of iconic French hip hop artists like Ministère AMER, MC Solaar, Ärsenik & DJ Cut Killer scratching the fuck out of KRS-One’s “Sound of da Police“ from the 6th floor of a Banlieue window. As the French hip hop scene has now transformed into balaclava clad drill artists, Louis Vuitton man bags & de-restricted E-bikes, there is a still a mutual respect for continental sportswear, colour-blocking tracksuits & classic Air Max trainers. Nowadays there’s even customised Lacoste Air Max TN’s, with various “unofficial” crocodile versions of the Air Max Plus trainer for #LacosteTNstyle fans. Viva la France!
Above: An unofficial pair of Lacoste Air Max TN’s which featured a customised embroidered crocodile to the tongue.
