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The Fashion Polo Have you ever wondered about the polo? The dressy t-shirt with a collar and a few buttons at the neck, maybe a pocket. Why would we be talking about polo shirts in a fashion blog? Because right now polo shirts are bang on trend. Right now guys, we are looking at “the fashion polo.” It all began with tennis You may not know much about René Lacoste, but he was a pretty awesome guy. He was the number one tennis player in the world in 1926 and 1927 and he won seven grand slam singles titles in the French, the US, and the British opens. He was nicknamed “The Crocodile” because of his tenacity on the court. At that time, tennis players played in “tennis whites” – a long sleeve shirt, white trousers, and ties, not the easiest outfit to play a game of tennis in. René Lacoste designed a white, short-sleeved shirt that was a lot easier to play in – he first wore it at the US Open championship in 1926. After retiring from tennis in 1933, René Lacoste founded the company Chemise Lacoste to start selling the shirts that he had made famous on the court. This became the Lacoste company that we know today – they created the concept and they are still producing some of the best polo shirts on the market. Why are they called polo shirts? In the 1920s polo players wore thick, long-sleeved collared shirts. When they became aware of Lacoste’s design for a lighter, short-sleeve, collared shirt, this was quickly also adopted by polo players. Shirts produced for polo players would have a polo player embroidered on them (instead of the crocodile sported by the Lacoste version). In 1972 Ralph Lauren released a collection – a new ready-to-wear line that was called Polo, a casual sports line of clothing drawing heavily on what polo players wear, celebrating the aspirational chic that polo embodies and utilising the logo of a polo player on a pony. The immense popularity of this line (which is still a huge seller) has helped re-title Lacoste’s tennis shirt as the polo shirt. Even tennis players will refer to the style of what they are wearing as a polo shirt. That’s the power of marketing. That’s the power of fashion. Why are they hot right now? Apart from being an incredibly practical and wearable piece of clothing, there are some exciting things going on in the world of polos. I’ve always been a huge fan of the Fred Perry polos. The classic version is super-stylish but the collaborations that they have done with Raf Simons, Gary Hume, and Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins is an amazing cyclist, but let’s be honest, he’s not really comfortable in front of the camera but the polos have a very sexy retro feel. Speaking of unlikely combinations, John Varvatos (who always produces gorgeous clothes) has teamed up with Ringo Starr to promote the Peace range of polos and t-shirts – a really simple design but utilising some effective contrast detail which is bang on trend this season. If you need any more reasons then take a look at what Alexander McQueen are doing. Their harness polo shirt is everything. — Polo shirts. They’re not a new concept but what we’re seeing this season is a fantastic reminder about why they are such a staple of our wardrobes, and with a bit of a twist you can be both functional and fashion-forward.
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