J. Crew and Lacoste have announced a line of exclusive polo shirts for men, women, children and babies that will be available at J. Crew beginning Feb. 18.



The J. Crew x Lacoste collection is set to launch at 30 J. Crew stores in the U.S., as well as online. The shirts will be available in white, navy, burgundy and orange, and will sell for $55 to $98.



Jenna Lyons, J. Crew's creative director and president, and Frank Muytjens, head of men's design, chose the brand to participate in its "Looks We Love" section, WWD reported. Lacoste was inspired by its archives from 1983 to create a special version of the brand's traditional logo for the shirts.



"I've always been attracted to the rich history of Lacoste, especially its vintage polo shirts," Muytjens told WWD. "We used them as our starting point, preserving details like a notched hem and a throwback crocodile logo but with a slimmer fit. They let us go through their archives to bring back an old crocodile, which is blue, not green. It's a nice throwback."



The head of men's design also said that he "loves" wearing his archival Lacoste shirts.



"The fabric... just gets better with age. I had a Lacoste shirt that I wore for almost 10 years, beginning when it was swimming on me as a girl to when I had completely grown out of it. We love the history and timelessness," Jenny Cooper, head of Crewcuts design, told WWD.



In related news, Lacoste announced in late December that it has started a global makeover to promote ready-to-wear and runway collections in international flagships.



"We are well ahead of the fashion industry. Our best-performing countries in 2014 were Japan, Argentina, Turkey — even Russia has had a good year," José Luis Duran, Lacoste's chief executive officer, told WWD.



"The United States is still our number-one market, but we have been too promotional there. As a consequence, we have decided to sacrifice part of our revenue to work harder on brand visibility and credibility. It's short-term pain for medium-term gain," Duran said.

