- At Ken Rosewall Arena, Lacoste’s United Cup pop-up felt closer to a fragrance launch than a sponsorship, turning tennis heritage into something you could smell, see and experience in real time.
- The launch of Original Eau de Parfum and Original Pour Femme marked a return to fragrance for Lacoste, leaning on heritage and longevity.
- Lacoste Original Eau de Parfum is woody and earthy, opening with fresh bergamot before settling into a lavender heart that carries through match point.
It’s almost impossible to look at the game of tennis without thinking of Lacoste and its instantly recognisable crocodile motif. And this January, at Sydney’s Ken Rosewall Arena was impossible to ignore at the United Cup.
Somewhere between the clatter of racquets and the roar of the crowd, the French Maison had set up a pop-up experience that felt like a perfume launch and a matchday cameo, all rolled into one.
Of course, this isn’t entirely surprising: Lacoste’s connection to the world of sport has taken on a near mythical identity in recent years, remaining one of the rare brands that can legitimately claim tennis as its origin story.
Which, in an era where brands continue to borrow the sport’s iconic aesthetics for runway relevance, feels increasingly rare (and increasingly valuable).
Throughout its history, Lacoste has long been tennis’ biggest champion, even as the sport became more global, more commercial.
For almost a century, the French brand has been serving up matchday fits and launch party scents, since René Lacoste, the brand’s 7-time Grand Slam champion founder, first put his enduring “Crocodile” moniker across the very fabric of the sport in 1933.
This year, Lacoste took its heritage and turned it into something you could experience for yourselves. Or if you’re in Sydney, at least, celebrating the brand’s Original collection, an Eau de Parfum for men, and the brand-new Original Pour Femme.
First released in 2024, Lacoste Original Eau de Parfum marked a deliberate return for the Maison to the fragrance space, with a nod to founder René’s revered creativity.
A sportsman first, an inventor and founder second, Lacoste wanted to reflect René’s spirit in a bottle, delivering a new Parfum that adds intensity and warmth; the kind of fragrance you notice hours later without even thinking about it.
On the nose, Lacoste Original Eau de Parfum leans distinctly masculine, woody and earthy, lifted by a unique freshness of bergamot and a lavender heart that makes it perfectly suited for match point or last drinks.
Its female counterpart, Original Pour Femme, arrives like one of Federer’s perfectly timed backhands. One-handed, of course.
At first, juicy pear and a hint of ginger give this scent a bright, sweet start, slowly inviting warmth and spice. At the heart, jasmine and solar notes unfold, capturing light and movement, before the fragrance settles into a base of ambroxan, vanilla, and amber that lingers long after the match is over.
As the sun dipped behind Ken Rosewall Arena and the final matches wrapped, Lacoste’s presence at the United Cup felt less like sponsorship and more like a renewed expression of intent: a brand built by an athlete and shaped by the same trajectory of the sport it continues to champion.
And smelling fantastic doing it. Game, set, match.
