Le Coq Sportif

Le Coq Sportif will scale back in the U.S.

May 14, 2008 by Erwin Ong

Brent Hunsberger, the man behind the Playbooks and Profiles blog at The Oregonian, is reporting that Le Coq Sportif plans to scale back its North American operations, a move likely brought on by the weak dollar and slow U.S. economy. Which is sad, considering that the company just launched the Spring 2008 line (reviewed here) and the Myth shoe (here); and they made a splash signing basketball up-and-comer Joakim Noah, son of French tennis great and longtime LCS spokeperson Yannick Noah, to endorse the brand.
LCS set up its North American shop in Portland, Ore. (also home to Nike), with CEO Tim McCool at the helm. Hunsberger asked him what was going on:

When asked if Le Coq was shutting Portland operations, McCool said, “I’ll give you more details tomorrow (Tuesday).” The company planned to publicly announce its changes later this week, he said.

I hope the news isn’t too bad. But even if that fizzles out, the chicken lives on!
Moving out: It’s highly likely that they’ll leave the apparel enclave of the Pacific Northwest (where adidas and Nike are based) and shift their management and operations to the East Coast.
Reaching out: LCS will focus on consumers of the “lifestyle” product focusing around fashion collections. Once that’s in place, they’ll move on to the “performers” aka tennis players.

The Rooster Crows: Le Coq Sportif's Spring 2008 line

February 28, 2008 by Erwin Ong

The rest of the line: We showed you Le Coq Sportif‘s Myth Shoe last week, and now here’s the rest of the Spring 2008 line, aka the first collection into the brand’s American relaunch.
The new brigade is headed by former adidas exec Tim McCool (CEO), Kip Meyer (CFO), and Patrick Ouyi (Marketing & Communications).
The arsenal: Clothing and footwear for the spring will come in three lines: Sport Chic, Retro Chic and Tennis…

The Sport Chic line has a few fun details — silk, cashmere, linen, and cotton enhanced with pleats, wood buttons, etc.

Retro Chic was Inspired by the 80’s — patch embroidery: an oversized rooster logo, and a bright palette.

The Yannick Noah polos came from the Frenchman’s historic achievements in the 80s. Clockwise, from top left: the 1986 Roll Polo, $59.99; the 1982 Porquerolles Polo, $59.99; another retro shirt; and a Tie-Dye version of the Roll Polo, $59.99.

There are some other tennis looks.

Accessories: The “Noah Club 1983” gets a reissue — half cup sole, expanded rubber midsole, and classic leather tennis shoe. Also for sale is a modern interpretation of the “Noah Club Prestige”. And a tennis accessories collection these days couldn’t be complete without a racquet bag.

Fashion Focus: Le Coq Sportif's Myth is all true

February 22, 2008 by Erwin Ong

The rooster crows: French brand Le Coq Sportif has a busy spring this year. They plan to release a new line of performance shoes called Myth and they’re also relaunching their sports and lifestyle collections in North America (more deets on that later). All this ado is perfectly timed with the 25th anniversary of Yannick Noah‘s 1983 French Open singles title — a big deal since it was the last time a Frenchman has won a Grand Slam (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came pretty close last month).
Italian Potito Starace, who contributed to the shoe’s design, had this to say about the new kicks:

“It is a privilege to be one of the few players wearing Le Coq Sportif apparel and footwear. I almost feel like I have a unique style when I walk on the court. Comfort is key for me but I also appreciate the ‘elegance’ of the tennis line.”

Details: Myths have two innovative features: the “ERGO +” flexibility system in the instep, supporting the foot; and the “DS2” patented inside sole which keeps the foot dry — no stink! And as far as colorways, a black version is available for men while pink and lime are for the women. (Le sigh… sometimes, a guy just wants to wear lime. Or pink.) What do you think of the shoes? Tell us!
Take a closer look: See the black/white and pink/white versions of the Myth after the cut