The core of our polo shirt collection features around 3 brands, each of which has a special place in the history of the garment. The brands have a core collection of polo shirts that represent the original designs and ideology of the polo shirt. We have taken a deeper look at these iconic pieces.
Lacoste
The first brand to make what we would consider today as a polo shirt, Lacoste’s core polo shirts are still very much the same. You can find two simple silhouettes, the L12.12 and the L13.12, both cotton pique and showing the crocodile motif on the chest. The name also has a story, the L is for Lacoste, 1 is for the cotton pique fabric of which the shirt is constructed, the 2 or 3 is for the sleeve length, 2 being short and 3 being long and the final 12 is for the number of colourways you can find the polo shirt in.
The polo shirt is the mainstay of the Lacoste collection and you cannot go wrong by adding one if not a couple to your wardrobe.
FredPerry
Another brand steeped in sporting history, Fred Perry, like Lacoste, has tennis embedded in its roots. Fred Perry, another Grand Slam winner, helped make the polo shirts a more commercial piece. The core of the Fred Perry collection are the classic one colour silhouette and the iconic twin-tipped, both are available in a number of colourways and are constructed of classic cotton pique. The original model of the one colour silhouette was designed and worn by Fred Perry himself and is still called the M3. A simple design with nothing but the iconic Laurel Wreath motif on the chest.
The twin-tipped design is one that has found itself at the heart of a number of subcultures over the decades. The legend behind the twin tipped design was that a buyer from Lilywhites had asked for some unique designs in the colours of football teams. This was the original M12 which became part of the British subcultural uniform for decades to come. The modern interpretation of the twin tipped polo is the M3600, constructed of cotton pique and sporting the laurel wreath motif.
Polo Ralph Lauren
The brand that took the polo shirt to the next level. As part of his 1972 “Polo” collection Ralph Lauren, launched his polo shirts. Available in a multitude of colours with the slogan “It gets better with age”, a nod to the difference between his own cotton polo shirts and the Lacoste Izod polo shirts constructed from polyester. The polo shirt has been a staple of the Polo collections for the past 5 decades and can still be found in the core collection today. The development of new materials has seen the introduction of a pima cotton version on top of the pique polo shirts.
The core collection consists of pima and pique polo shirts in the staple colours with more seasonal colourways added depending on the time of year.