How to spot a fake Lacoste Polo Shirt

Companies like Lacoste invest a great deal into building their brand and quality control. However, with the increase in number of people buying Lacoste clothing online, replica or fake Lacoste Polo shirts are becoming more common in the internet marketplace with many buyers unaware they are ending up with fakes.

A genuine Lacoste polo shirt can cost anywhere between £50 to £100 per shirt, so alarm bells should start ringing when you are being offered polo shirts for substantially less. Unlike authentic Lacoste clothing, the fakes simply don’t feel like the real thing. If you know what you are looking for then it can be quite simple to spot a fake, but sometimes the differences can be quite subtle, obviously if you see one on eBay for £10 then you can be pretty sure that it’s a fake.

So just look for these telltale signs when you are buying online, respected retailers will be selling originals, this guide is mainly for when you are buying on eBay, you should also express this caution when buying other designer brands too.

Some of the things to look out for when trying to decide if a Lacoste Polo Shirt is genuine or a fake.

The Lacoste Crocodile: Lacoste is instantly recognisable by it’s green crocodile logo, one of the easiest ways to tell a fake from the genuine article is the placement of the crocodile, on a genuine polo shirt the crocodile is aligned between the lower button and the bottom stitching, and always facing right, with a fake the crocodile is aligned with the bottom stitching, as you can see here:
The quality of the crocodile is also a factor in distinguishing real from fake, a genuine crocodile patch should be very distinct, showing scales, claws and teeth. On the polo shirt the crocodile will be embroidered on a patch then sewn onto the shirt and not printed on the shirt.

Pearl Buttons: Genuine Lacoste polo’s have real pearl buttons, genuine mother of pearl, where two patterns should never be the same. Fake Lacoste buttons are usually mass produced plastic buttons, either plain pearl ‘looking’ or with ‘Lacoste’ printed on them, as seen below.

Sizes: Lacoste clothing is sized using numbers, so instead of the usual sizing of S, M, L, XL or chest size Lacoste use a sizing guide with numbers 3, 4, 5 etc.

The care label: Look inside your polo shirt for a care label. It should outline washing instructions in both French & English. At the bottom, it should say ‘DEVANLAY’ in capital letters. If your polo shirt does not have this, it is probably a fake.

Some fake Lacoste Polo’s are good copies and can be hard to tell apart from an original, We have seen some that have all the above but not the DEVANLAY printed on the washing instructions, but then the Lacost croc is stitched on uneven, another giveaway is the price, Lacoste Polo shirts are not cheap for a reason, they are made with quality materials, if you see them for around £20 new ,then they will not be original, to be 100% sure you are buying the genuine article then you should always buy from a respected retailer.

Read about spotting fake Ralph Lauren polo shirts here…