Interview with Mark Godwin the head of the Stealth international category - turned the brand from 'old fogie brand' to a brand collaborating with the likes of Kid Robott, Collette and Solebox; being descibed then as a cool/street edge brand.
I saw Justin Timberlake has been rocking the Missouri 85 recently. I should think your bosses must be happy with the way things are going at lacoste these days...
Yep, I hope so, they pay my wages!
Lacoste has been around for a long time, but it’s only recently with Stealth that you’ve created this cool/street edge to the brand. Why do you need a category like this?
I think it’s really important for a few reasons. Firstly, it enables us to communicate the brand’s heritage. When I first arrived at Lacoste, the brand was in danger of becoming too commercial in markets such as the UK, and in others we were perceived as being an ‘old man’ brand. I think many people were unaware of the achievements of Rene Lacoste in the world of tennis. Communicating this to a more educated consumer enabled us to start a top tier trend strategy, giving us a presence in cool stores and media, and in theory putting our shoes on more stylish feet. Stealth is also responsible for seeding new styles, letting them ferment for a while before releasing them on a wider scale.
Colette, Kid Robot, Solebox, Alife... you’ve racked up a pretty impressive collection of collaborations, starting of course with the Missouri 85 project that we did together. Why do they work so well?
None of them were intentional, they all just kind of happened, and I think that is the best way to do things. For example, one of our designers had the idea to make a vinyl toy croc to sit with our shoes at retail. We flew Paul Budnitz from Kid Robot over to the UK and the rest is history. We got the toy, they got the shoes, we both had fun and both parties got great media. Similarly with Solebox and Alife. Both of my original meetings with them were for other purposes, but we struck up good relationships and both projects felt natural and mutually beneficial. At the end of the day, we look to gain recognition and visibility for our shoes, as well as distribution in the best stores globally. The associated media coverage is great for the Lacoste brand as a whole and I hope that our partners also get similar benefits.
Do you have a favourite memory from your time at Lacoste so far?
I guess the whole thing with you guys, deciding to do the Sneaker Freaker x Missouri shoe (I was dead nervous asking!), and then seeing it come together so quickly from artwork, to shoe, to the launch party at Alife in New York. Then watching it all kick-off on the blogs and the reports of crazy sell out. Ask Hikmet at Solebox who didn’t know why people were queuing outside his store when he got to work one morning! It was this project that gave us the credibility to really move forward.
Alex
