The iconic polo shirt is synonymous with French luxury apparel-maker Lacoste. For the brands annual Holiday Collectors Series 2012-13, it has enlisted Brazilian designers, brothers Humberto and Fernando Campana to reconceptualize its beloved polo.
The duo has redrawn the Lacoste crocodile emblem, in such a way that it resembles a rolled-up sushi a motif the brothers, who specialize in furniture design, discovered in 2003 while exploring new forms of upholstering. We created a technique of rolling together different sorts of materials. From fabrics, carpets, felt, and rubber nets, flat and three-dimensional elements formed colourful swirls to be applied in a vast array of limited and numbered pieces. Sushi started off as a nickname but soon became the title for the collection, which encompasses chairs, sofas, tables, puffs, buffets, and objects, say Humberto and Fernando. The arrangement of swirls and textures of the Sushi has since become a Campana trademark. So its transposition to the Lacoste logo was a natural step, they say.
This is not Lacostes first collaboration with the Campana Brothers. Our previous collaboration with the Campana Brothers in 2009 was very well received in India, and the crocodile cult grew further, creating an emotional connect. In fact that years Holiday Collector Series was almost sold out the moment it was introduced, says Rajesh Jain, CEO and director, Lacoste India. With the upcoming series, we hope for a similar response.
On the possibility of a future India theme for their motifs, Humberto and Fernando say they have no specific plans, and are currently happy to be fuelled by the multiculturalism of their native Brazil. Many of our projects have been reinterpretations of solutions we witnessed in different communities within Brazil lovely, unusual solutions. However, we live in São Paulo. As a result, our work tries to create bridges between the primitive artisanal (and deeply humanized) universe, and the contemporary industrialized world, they say. To draw inspiration from life in India would be very exciting one day.
The collection is currently available in select outlets in Delhi and Mumbai.
Text by Priya Kumari Rana