French fashion brand Lacoste announces limited-edition logo change from crocodile to endangered animals

On Wednesday, French sports clothing brand Lacoste announced producing a limited edition of polo shirts featuring top-ten endangered animal species as the logo, instead of the company's usual crocodile logo, in a measure to protect those animals, partnering with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Lacoste announced partnering with IUCN at the Paris Fashion Week. Proceeds from the sale would be donated to the IUCN, online magazine Dezeen reported. The collaboration was a part of IUCN's "Save our Species" (SOS) programme.

The endangered animals to feature on the polo shirts were: vaquita, Burmese roofed turtle, northern sportive lemur, Javan rhino, Cao-vit gibbon, kakapo, California condor, saola, Sumatran tiger, and Anegada ground iguana.

The limited edition polos were to be produced in the count of the endangered animals, meaning 30 shirts featuring the vaquita, a mammal found near the Californian Gulf, would be produced as only 30 vaquitas are believed remaining. In total, 1775 polos featuring an endangered animal as the logo would be produced.

Lacoste was founded by tennis player René Lacoste and André Gillier in 1933 and their crocodile logo was never changed until now, in the 85-year-history of the clothing brand.

The limited edition shirts were to be available in only some European countries and the United States.

Endangered animal Count Location Vaquita 30 Gulf of California (Mexico) Burmese roofed turtle 40 Myanmar Northern sportive lemur 50 Northern Madagascar Javan rhino 67 Java (Indonesia) Cao-vit gibbon 150 China, Vietnam Kakapo 157 New Zealand California condor 231 United States Saola 250 Vietnam, Laos Sumatran tiger 350 Sumatra (Indonesia) Anegada ground iguana 450 Anegada (British Virgin Islands)

Note: Statistics from Lacoste's website