Izod Lacoste
Izod of London became most notable for its pairing with the Lacoste shirt company from 1952 to 1993. Vincent Draddy began to license the Lacoste shirt to add prestige to the Izod line, but he could not find a market for the then-expensive $8.00 retail price (around ). After Draddy began giving the shirts away to his famous friends, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bing Crosby, Daniel Platt, and John F. Kennedy, the shirts soon became popular with department stores. "Izod of London" became a brand known simply as "Izod Lacoste". While the shirts were equally Izod and Lacoste, they became abbreviated and popularized as "Izod" shirts (which led to the ongoing misunderstanding that the famous "Crocodile" logo of Lacoste is the "Izod" trademark).
Growth
In 1964, Bernard Lacoste took over the management of the company. Significant company growth was seen under Bernard's management. When he became president, around 300,000 Izod Lacoste products were sold annually. The Izod Lacoste brand reached its height of popularity in the US during the late 1970s and became the signature 1980s "preppy" wardrobe item, mentioned in The Official Preppy Handbook. The company also began to introduce other products into their line, including shorts, perfume, optical and sunglasses, tennis shoes, deck shoes, walking shoes, watches, and various leather goods.
In 1977, Le Tigre Clothing was founded in an attempt to directly compete with Izod Lacoste in the US market, selling a similar array of apparel, but featuring a tiger in place of the signature Lacoste crocodile. Also during this period, Izod's parent, Crystal Brands, came under the management of General Mills, and purchased the Gant U.S.A. brand.
Separation
During the early 1990s, Izod Lacoste struggled to maintain the market dominance it had enjoyed in previous decades. The initial reaction from Crystal Brands was to separate the two names and target two groups of customers at once; "Izod" was reintroduced as moderately priced apparel in department stores, while Lacoste was renamed "Lacoste Chemise", and repositioned as a luxury lifestyle brand. Eventually, this tactic did not provide the financial gain Crystal had hoped, and the licensing partnership ended in 1993. Sportloisirs S.A. purchased the Lacoste brand entirely in 1993, while Izod was sold to PVH in 1995.
PVH repositioned and restored some of Izod's previous relevance, while introducing a number of product lines and brands, complete with an Izod "crest" logo, or patch. In addition to its sportswear, Izod designs a full range of men's suits, shirts, neckties, shoes, outerwear, and fragrances, and continues to produce its famous polo shirts. Within the PVH corporation, the Izod-branded shirt became part of the biggest shirt company in the United States.
The PVH era
From 2003 to 2007, PVH formed a licensing deal with Kellwood Company to produce Izod-branded women's clothing. Production of the women's line was brought in-house in 2007 until its discontinuation in 2015.
On January 7, 2015, parent company Phillips-Van Heusen announced that it would be closing all 120 Izod retail outlets due to an increasingly competitive environment driven by more premium brands in the outlet retail channel. This move would not affect Izod's growing wholesale business to department stores and other retailers.[4] Coinciding with the closure of the retail outlets, in 2015, the women's line was discontinued.
In spring 2016, Izod introduced the Advantage Polo, a new take on their traditional piqué polo featuring a cotton/polyester blend with natural stretch, moisture-wicking fabric, and UPF-15 sun protection. The Advantage Polo remains available today with various colors and patterns being offered depending on seasonal collection, with the core year-round colors as of 2022 being Black, Bright White, Real Red (bright red), Blue Revival (azure), and Peacoat (navy), with Fairy Tale (pale pink), Blue Radiance (turquoise), Bright Cobalt (cobalt blue), Dahlia Purple (bright purple), Lemon (lemon yellow), Cantaloupe (orange), Fig (wine red), Simply Green (bright green), and Wild Fern (dark green) available as additional year-round Amazon-exclusive colors. The Advantage brand was later expanded to include other products with stretch and/or moisture-wicking fabric such as fleece sweatshirts and button-down shirts. As of 2021, the original 100% cotton Heritage piqué polo has been discontinued.
Sale to Authentic Brands Group
In May 2021, PVH was reported as exploring a sale of the Heritage Brands division, with Authentic Brands Group as a potential buyer.[10] The sale was officially announced on June 23, 2021, consisting of Izod, Van Heusen, Arrow, and Geoffrey Beene.[1] The sale was completed on August 2, 2021. Under ABG, Centric Brands was named as the licensee to manufacture and market IZOD sportswear, thus separating the marketing and manufacturing of the brand from longtime stablemate Van Heusen, which United Legwear & Apparel Co. was named as its licensee.
Since its acquisition by Authentic Brands Group (ABG), the IZOD brand has undergone a strategic repositioning toward a more upmarket segment, with increased emphasis on product quality and sustainability. The brand has also shifted its distribution focus toward core retail partners and its own e‑commerce platform, reducing its presence in off‑price and discount channels. This approach contrasts with that of its longtime competitor, Chaps, which has moved further into the value segment and expanded its distribution through retailers such as Walmart, while scaling back its traditional department‑store offerings.
