Lacoste has launched online and store sales of International Olympic Committee-licensed Heritage Collection as the organization ventures into licensing for the first time, said Elisabeth Allaman, the IOC’s VP of Commercial Integration, during a keynote Q&A at Brand Licensing Europe.

The Heritage line leverages images and iconography associated with past Olympic Games, beginning with a six-piece collection (to be supplemented later) surrounding the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City. The apparel will include an Olympic Heritage trademark. There also will be a 10-piece Grenoble collection, marking the 50th anniversary of the Olympic Winter Games in France.

Future programs will, like the Lacoste agreement, focus on mid- to high-end products, with fewer licensees than are typically signed for the Games.

The Lacoste apparel is being sold through the company’s stores in Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and the UK and in the Western U.S., Allaman said.

It marks the beginning of the IOC’s push into licensing, a move that also will include an “Olympic Collection” that will be part of the organization’s marketing efforts in advance of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Toyko, Allaman said.The IOC also is working with sponsor Alibaba to create an ecommerce store, with plans to have it available on Alibaba’s Tmall starting in mid-2019, Allaman said.

The new strategy won’t change the IOC’s long-standing policy of having local Olympic organizers handle licensing for their specific event.

Contact:

International Olympic Committee, Betty Aldini, Licensing Mgr. Commercial Integration, +41 21 621 61 11, betty.aldini@olympic.org.