The story of Lacoste
René Lacoste, one of the Four Musketeers of French tennis, earned his crocodile nickname on court in the 1920s. In 1933 he and André Gillier set up a company making tennis shirts embroidered with the animal. The piqué cotton polo became the brand's core product. Its internal reference, L.12.12, eventually came to mean the shirt itself. Lacoste fragrances have always been made under licence, and the licence has changed hands several times. Interparfums took it over in 2024. In the early 2010s the brand turned the polo's reference number into a fragrance line. L.12.12 Blanc belongs to it, alongside versions named after the shirt's colours. The idea fits in a sentence: one polo, one colour, one scent. Simple, and that is exactly why it sold.
An olfactory signature
The Lacoste signature is clean laundry and smart sportswear. L.12.12 Blanc opens on tart grapefruit and cool cardamom, made herbal by rosemary. The heart is more surprising. Tuberose and ylang-ylang add a creamy roundness, kept in check by a thread of incense. The base leans towards pale leather, with cedar and vetiver giving way to a suede that leaves skin feeling soft. Picture a white shirt fresh out of the dryer, with no showing off.
Which Lacoste perfume to choose?
In our database Lacoste is represented by L.12.12 Blanc, a masculine eau de toilette from 2011. It is an easy pick for the office, spring and summer. Longevity is short, so keep the bottle in a gym bag or desk drawer for a second round. If you want the same clean idea with more projection, try Abercrombie & Fitch Fierce, which is muskier. For a more marine freshness, Bvlgari Aqva Pour Homme is a good alternative.