The Paris-based designer has been charged with updating the 79-year-old label’s image. But when it comes to his own style, Baptista prefers to leave his collars well enough alone, staying out of the ongoing debate about how to best wear Lacoste’s iconic Polo shirt.
“Personally, I keep it down,” he stated while celebrating with Vogue, macarons, and Champagne at the launch of Lacoste’s newly developed Gansevoort Park Hotel boutique, which will exclusively sell womenswear throughout February. Quick to note the popped collar’s varied international appeal, he added, “In Italy, everyone does it. In France, no one does it; it’s a very geographic thing.” Baptista, who will present his collection on February 11, was ever the model of diplomacy, and said he holds no judgment against those who chose to wear the collar up. “I say to each their own.”