Lacoste Spring 2027

Lacoste has always had one foot on the tennis court and the other in fashion, but Pelagia Kolotouros is increasingly interested in what happens when the two worlds stop behaving themselves. Showing on the Philippe Chatrier court at Roland-Garros, the designer looked back to René Lacoste and his instinct for practical rebellion, recalling how he famously altered his tennis shirts for greater comfort and speed in the 1920s. But for Spring 2027, Kolotouros was less interested in repeating that history than asking what rebellion looks like now. The answer involved sweat, speed, physical exertion and clothes that become more interesting once they appear slightly undone.

The collection began with the cleaner side of Kolotouros' Lacoste: roomy lightweight coats, breathable tailoring and airy sportswear that established a relaxed new vocabulary for the house. Then things became considerably more physical. Sweat-stain motifs appeared across polo shirts that were shrunken tightly against the torso, while joggers slipped low enough to expose underwear waistbands. Washed silk gave floor-length blousons and matching trousers a lived-in quality, while collars were deliberately mis-layered or popped. Some of the most striking looks took the idea of exertion literally, with white silhouettes appearing clay-stained or sweat-soaked. The effect was created through steam applied to layers of different materials, each responding differently to heat and humidity. “I think sport is sexy,” Kolotouros said, and the collection made a convincing case for it. Speed came through exaggerated volumes, graphic details and accessories, including the ACE-T1 sneaker, whose design references the tension of a tennis net being struck, complete with a tennis-ball heel.

There was something fitting about using Roland-Garros as the setting for a collection concerned with the point where technique gives way to instinct. Kolotouros is not abandoning Lacoste's codes; she is loosening them, allowing sweat, movement and imperfection into a brand historically associated with precision and sporting discipline. René Lacoste remains the starting point, but the clothes increasingly belong to a different generation. That shift already appears to be finding an audience, with Kolotouros' vision reaching more than 40 retailers including Dover Street Market, Selfridges, Galeries Lafayette, Ssense and Hankyu in Japan. The real test, of course, is whether that sharper, sexier edge can translate beyond the runway. At Lacoste, the game is no longer simply about getting onto the court. It is about what happens once you start playing.