Lacoste has replaced its distinctive crocodile logo with endangered animals in a new range of limited edition polo shirts designed to bring attention to the fight for nature conservation.
The limited edition Lacoste x Save Our Species polo shirts feature endangered animals such as the Sumatran Tiger and the Anegada Rock Iguana in place of the famous crocodile. A total of 1,775 polo shirts were created, with the number of polos produced for each animal logo corresponding to the number of animals known to be alive. For example, just 30 shirts featured a logo with the Gulf of California porpoise, as only 30 remain in the wild.
Proceeds from the sale of the shirts, which were sold out within hours, will be donated to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Ethical rebranding
Consumers are becoming increasingly expectant of ethical action from the brands they engage with, and we’ve seen a number of companies make temporary alterations to their branding in order to raise awareness, funds or show support for certain causes.
With many brands’ logos instantly recognisable and consumers so used to seeing the same shapes, colours and fonts day-in, day-out, temporary alterations can have a significant impact.
When it comes to selecting a cause to support, brands have a wealth of options to choose from. But in the world of clothing specifically, brands stand to benefit from keeping environmental issues in mind, with Mintel’s 2017 report on clothing retailing in the UK showing that 58% of UK consumers think fashion retailers should be more environmentally friendly.
Adam Steel is Mintel’s Trends Analyst for the European region, identifying changes in the patterns of consumer behaviour to detect new trends. He publishes observations on Mintel’s Trends platform that cover innovations, creative marketing campaigns and product launches.
