Plus, Winnie’s Idris Balogun will be putting a new stamp on the passport. The former Tom Ford designer, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in London, and until recently lived in Winnie’s home base in Vicenza, Italy, is relocating to Paris to become Lacoste’s new head of menswear. Balogun took over running Winnie in May, and since 2019 has been creating a poetic, intelligent design language that evokes an American preppy’s journey of fashion self-discovery around the European fashion capitals.
At Lacoste, Balogun, 31, will work with new design director Pelagia Korotours, who has experience at Calvin Klein and Adidas and was hired to shape a cohesive vision for the French tennis giant, from its high-fashion collections to its famous piqué polo shirts. The green crocodile has had a runway line for nearly two decades, launched by Christophe Lemaire, a young Frenchman with a penchant for understated luxury. But like any brand better known for its polo shirts and tennis shorts that also do runway fashion, Lacoste faces a tricky balance: there are more than enough lavish clothes coming out of its Paris atelier. The challenge for Korotours and Balogun will be to create an appealing (and expensive) Lacoste product that will hold up on the runway but doesn’t stray too far from the brand’s sporty identity and long history.
In a recent phone call, Balogun said there is room for improvement in the backhand. What Lacoste is clearly looking for is the thoughtful eye of the master tailor, who cut his teeth on Saville Row before joining Christopher Bailey at Burberry and then Tom Ford. Suits seem to be an early focus. “Lacoste has done some pretty interesting things with tailoring so far, and I want to jump in and help take it to the next level,” Balogun said. With Winnie, he is guided by a research process that saw him study the work of jazz poet Ted Jones one season and Bad Brains the next, creating elegant, contemporary, flattering menswear. His thoughtfulness has earned him comparisons with Grace Wales Bonner, another young designer who enlivens menswear with unique cultural references.
Can Balogun replicate the success of Bonner, France’s biggest sports brand, which did sportswear for Adidas? Though he doesn’t play much tennis, Balogun knows the sport is having a “big moment” right now, and he wants to harness that energy in a field that’s so deeply rooted in tenniswear history (Rene Lacoste invented the piqué tennis polo in 1933). “I like the idea of giving tennis an edge,” he says, referring to the irresistible dirtbag tennis look created by Challengers costume designer Jonathan Anderson. “With the Challengers, I thought now was the perfect time to get in, to continue this kind of bad-boy tennis thing. Tennis has been very highbrow for a long time, so I think it’s interesting to play with the punk tennis mix.” Lacoste’s next runway show will be in Paris on October 1.
With many design studios currently vacant – including Chanel, Givenchy, Dries Van Noten and Tom Ford – and the industry in a state of some uncertainty after Ford successor Peter Hawkings announced on Monday morning that he was stepping down, at least for now, Thibaut and Balogun are ready to get to work.
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