Le Tigre Women's Fashion Brand

First offered in 1977, Le Tigre polos sported a leaping tiger in lieu of Lacoste's signature crocodile, per the original Apparel Search profile. Le Tigre is an American brand of apparel designed to rival Lacoste in styling. Those two sentences define the brand completely: an American challenger, launched in 1977, whose entire identity is a deliberate answer to the French house profiled two pages earlier in this letter - where Lacoste sews a crocodile, Le Tigre leaps a tiger. Women's Le Tigre starts from the polo, and the polo starts from that rivalry.

Le Tigre had become popular during the later 1980s, per the original; celebrities from Wilt Chamberlain, LL Cool J, and even Ronald Reagan were seen wearing the tiger. That wearer list is a period document in itself - a basketball legend, a defining hip hop artist and a sitting-era president in the same shirt tells you the brand crossed the era's audiences the way its French rival did. The company is based in New York City, which completes the challenger's profile: French styling codes, American manufacture of the myth, New York base.

Out of Production, Back in 2003, and the Ownership Trail

The brand made a comeback in 2003, after being out of production through the 1990s, per the original. A decade out of production followed by a 2003 return makes Le Tigre a revival brand twice over in spirit - the tiger slept through the 1990s and came back on the same polo proposition. Le Tigre had been a subsidiary of Kenneth Cole Productions since 2007. The brand was then purchased by Infinity Lifestyle Brands and Hilco Brands in November 2015. The ownership trail matters for dating pieces: pre-1990s originals, 2003-2007 revival pieces, Kenneth Cole Productions years, and post-November 2015 Infinity/Hilco product are four distinct populations.

Kenneth Cole's role deserves one clarifying note for cross-readers of this directory: the Kenneth Cole house whose lines are profiled in the K letter held Le Tigre as a subsidiary from 2007 - a polo challenger sitting inside a New York footwear-and-clothing group is a sensible home for it, and the 2015 sale to Infinity Lifestyle Brands and Hilco Brands moved it to specialists in brand revival. When a Le Tigre piece's label or seller references a parent company, that reference is your fastest date check against the trail above.

Shopping Women's Le Tigre

The original carried the brand's official ladies' shop at letigreshirt.com in its references, and it is carried here. Shop the women's polo against its founding brief: the tiger should be cleanly embroidered and unmistakably leaping, the piqué or jersey should hold its collar through washing, and the fit should read as the relaxed American answer to the French original rather than a copy of it. Beyond polos, apply the era test from the ownership trail before paying vintage prices - later-1980s popularity pieces are the label's most sought-after form.

A 1977 first offering, a leaping tiger aimed squarely at a crocodile, popularity in the later 1980s on wearers from Wilt Chamberlain to Ronald Reagan, a silent 1990s, a 2003 comeback, Kenneth Cole Productions from 2007 and Infinity Lifestyle Brands with Hilco Brands from November 2015: Le Tigre is the L letter's great American challenger brand, and its whole story is visible in one small embroidered animal.