The interview

How did the LACOSTE by Jean-Paul Goude project come about?

Felipe Oliveira Baptista: I love Jean-Paul's work and I knew he loved LACOSTE and was ready to do something with us, in his primary area, that of communication. But we had this project: “LACOSTE collector” which gives carte blanche to designers and artists, so I seized the opportunity. This proposal suited his very strong universe rather well.

Jean-Paul Goude: Felipe landed one day and there was a little moment of grace. We were happy to meet, it happened very simply, a bit as if he had said to me: “We're going to play tennis this afternoon. You come with us ? ".

The carte blanche given to an artist does not necessarily give rise to such a scenography.

JPG: The proposal took more and more proportions as time passed, until we decided to do a mini show. For this project: Felipe would be Diaghilev, LACOSTE would be the Ballets Russes and I would be Tamara Karsavina.

FOB: What was great about Jean-Paul is that he started right away in a very personal direction around crocodile. He was already in touch with the crocodile. This operation will even give rise to an advertising campaign for us. Exactly where Jean-Paul wanted to start.

JPG: Everything happened spontaneously.

Have you given Jean-Paul Goude specific instructions?

FOB: It wasn't a brief, it was an invitation, a real carte blanche. It is Jean-Paul who sees, he who decides, who gives his interpretation of the crocodile. I did not say: "I want that to make typically Jean-Paul Goude in such or such a direction". Everything was pretty organic. My role is to choose someone I admire, whose work I find interesting for the brand and to help them express themselves. I was personally engaged almost as a support for his expression. No brief. These white cards are little windows of freedom.

Was it obvious to reinterpret the LACOSTE logo?

JPG: I wondered what I was going to do. It's funny a crocodile… What if we dressed up as a crocodile? It suits my mind better. We would make that out of paper, in a very simple way, to make it look effortless. The real mark of elegance! Having said that, I did not realize how making it simple is much more complicated than it sounds, and for the event to be a pleasure to carry out, I therefore, as often in my work, introduces personal themes.

The crocodile for you is the “Bad boy” of the jungle, the opposite of the brand's discreet sportswear image.

JPG: In my childhood, the LACOSTE crocodile was already extremely famous. He was not alone: ​​there was the good Michelin man, the Laughing Cow, and I was going to say the Kodakettes, but that's much later! On the intention sketches I showed Felipe on my first dates with him, I always wrote "the crocodile is man's best friend". Whereas in the collective unconscious, the crocodile is above all that [He shows a sketch. From the closed mouth of the crocodile protrudes a pair of legs that the animal is swallowing raw]. There was never any question of referring to this kind of imagery, although the brand itself has done so in the past. There are photographs showing René Lacoste at home in his living room, holding a dangerous stuffed crocodile on a leash.

FOB: The brand must allow itself a certain freedom in relation to its logo and what it represents. Bringing the crocodile back to Africa, and therefore elsewhere geographically, this sets the label in motion.

JPG: The fact that the logo is worn discreetly by LACOSTE followers does not prevent a story that has nothing to do with discretion. “The crocodile” is the nickname given by an American journalist to René Lacoste in the 30s, echoing his tenacity on the courts. He never let go of his prey.

What will the crocodile ballet say?

JPG: A courtship display between two extremely sophisticated saurians. A ballet of automatons, a bit like I showed during my exhibition at the 21_21 museum in Tokyo in 2014. I have always loved dancing. Whenever I have the chance, the choreographer in me wakes up and tries to put on a ballet. The Bicentennial Parade was nothing else. I've been doing the same thing forever. I dance and I draw. That's all I can do.

And the costumes?

JPG: So… for the lady, a wedding dress in folded origami paper, optical fiber and corrugated cardboard, and for the gentleman, the same thing with a penis case, also in folded paper. The cotton thread embroidery affixed to the polo shirts is an illustration of these two costumed characters.

Does everything always start with drawings?

JPG : Yes, because I am above all a designer, a graphic artist as they say, a “photographist”, just to remind people that photography is also graphic design.

Animation too?

JPG: Yes. Once the drawing is done, all the animations are possible, provided of course of mastering them. TV spots, social networks, etc.

What do the mask and pointed hat your characters wear represent for you?

JPG: It is recurrent in my work. The Bauhaus is one of my references, and in particular Oscar Schlemmer and his “triadic ballet”. Ballet mine has more to do with an oversized music box whose costumed figures will slide around while spinning, like a fashion show.

A music ?

JPG: Yes, purely rhythmic, a sort of incantation. Bringing the ghosts of the Porte Dorée palace back to life, bringing them back among us for an evening, this is the underlying idea of ​​the project.

The Vincennes zoo holds a big place in your imagination.

JPG: Yes, and for the same reasons as my fascination with the Palace of the Golden Gate. With its large concrete rock, the Vincennes zoo was so close to where we lived with my parents, that in summer, in great heat, you could smell the odors of camel pee 500m around. At night, as in a fairy-tale Africa, under the shining starry canopy, we could hear the roaring wild beasts.

Was it a dream to occupy the Palais de la Porte Dorée?

JPG: It has housed several museums, the National Museum of the History of Immigration today, the Museum of the Arts of Africa and Oceania, of Overseas France and even the colonies, and, since always , the Tropical Aquarium and its famous crocodiles; for me it will always be the Palais de la Porte Dorée. I dreamed of it since my childhood. It is a place that will have been the inspiration of a lifetime.

Collection

The LACOSTE crocodile seen through the prism of Jean-Paul Goude - the imaginary Africa of his childhood, his love of dance and his admiration for the Bauhaus.

Costumed and sophisticated, two saurians in parade straight out of Jean-Paul Goude's imagination are embroidered on the products of a capsule collection which consists of a line of polo shirts for men, women and children, a tote bag , a clutch bag and a limited edition bomber jacket.

Polo shirts

The heavy cotton pique polo shirt for men and women is available in short or long sleeve versions in 5 classic and timeless colors: white, navy, heather gray, green or red. A short-sleeved polo shirt for children is also available in heather gray or navy.

The bags

The embroidery of one of the 2 graphics signing this edition adorns a shopping bag and a pouch from the “Chantaco” line in navy petit piqué leather.

The limited edition - the bomber

Available for men and women, this heavy cotton pique jacket, halfway between the bomber and the sukajan jacket, is distinguished by its collar borrowed from the polo shirt. Embroidered with one of the 2 revisited crocodiles on the back, this lightly padded bomber is available in navy or red and black.

This collection will be available from November 2016 in all LACOSTE stores around the world.

To know more : www.lacoste.com