After the oversized impact of last year’s “Play Big” campaign, Lacoste returns in 2025 with a new creative direction titled “Play With Icons.” The campaign continues the brand’s commitment to celebrating its heritage while engaging with bold contemporary voices. At the center of the new global launch are five ambassadors, Novak Djokovic, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Pierre Niney, Venus Williams, and Wang Yibo, each paired with a reinterpreted Lacoste classic. Together, they form a visual language that fuses sport, fashion, and personality into a single, stylized statement.
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The campaign centers around Lacoste’s iconic wardrobe staples, from the signature polo shirt to pleated skirts and the new Lenglen bag. Each item is reimagined as both object and metaphor, enhanced by playful design twists and artistic storytelling. Photographer and director Tyler Mitchell, known for his cinematic approach to portraiture, leads the creative execution. With set design by Poppy Bartlett and styling by Imruh Asha, the result is a visually arresting series of stills and videos that expand Lacoste’s fashion vocabulary while staying grounded in its tennis roots.
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Novak Djokovic appears in the campaign as “The King of the Court,” wrapped in a golden tennis net that flows like a royal cape over his Lacoste polo. The composition elevates both the athlete and the garment, positioning Djokovic not just as a champion but as a cultural icon, and reaffirming the polo as a staple of both sport and style. French actress Adèle Exarchopoulos reimagines the Lenglen bag as a pleated skirt in a trompe-l’œil styling moment that references Lacoste’s legacy while nodding to modern couture playfulness.
French actor Pierre Niney brings wit to the campaign in a quiet yet deliberate pose, lounging in Lacoste green atop a sculptural sofa shaped like the brand’s crocodile emblem. His vignette, titled “The Living Emblem,” captures Lacoste’s ability to distill identity through design. Venus Williams, cast as “The Legend,” emerges from a dramatic pleated sculpture, her look echoing Lacoste’s mastery of form.
Meanwhile, Chinese superstar Wang Yibo takes to the stage surrounded by bouquets crafted from Lacoste polos in varying shades of blue. His segment, titled “The Singular Charisma,” becomes a celebration of global influence and fashion’s ability to project personality through repetition and form. It also positions the polo shirt as a flexible symbol of identity, capable of holding meaning far beyond the court.
Created in partnership with BETC, the “Play With Icons” campaign marks a shift toward storytelling grounded in individuality. Set to an original score by French composer Émile Sornin, the campaign’s slow-motion films stretch time and image, transforming everyday garments into mythic icons.
