The tongue of Lacoste‘s reptilian mascot served as the unlikely inspiration for this one-off Alpine A290 Rally, with all-red interiors designed to feel like “stepping into the crocodile’s mouth”.
The concept, called Beware of the Crocodile, was created in collaboration with sportscar maker Alpine and offers a contemporary take on a rally car with widened tracks, defined wheels and spoilers, and raw carbon-fibre details.
Its styling is a homage to the competitive spirit of Lacoste‘s founder, French tennis player René Lacoste, whose nickname “the Crocodile” is immortalised in the fashion brand’s emblem.
The design teams reinterpreted the fashion brand’s logo through a red-washed interior – an abstract reference to the crocodile’s maw, which sticks out dramatically from the otherwise all-green design.
“This one-off car draws inspiration from one of the most iconic elements of Lacoste’s identity: the red of the crocodile’s tongue,” the designers explained.
Inside the car, structural elements are rendered in anodised metal, and seats and door panels are upholstered in the same petit piqué fabric Lacoste uses for its polo shirts.
These colour-drenched surfaces offer a stark contrast with the car’s monochrome white exterior, where tiny particles embedded into the paint create a subtle texture informed by snowy Alpine landscapes.
No less than 290 crocodiles are integrated throughout the vehicle, according to Lacoste, seen everywhere from the headlights to the parcel shelf above the boot, where a clear resin rendition of the beast seems to emerge from the water.
Lacoste enlisted embroidery workshop Potencier, which also creates its logo patches, to make the small red crocodiles stitched onto the steering wheel and across the dashboard.
Another reptile is emblazoned on the racing car’s seats, which are 3D-printed with a lattice structure to reduce weight.
As part of the collaboration between the two companies, Lacoste has also created a co-branded capsule collection of clothing, including polos, T-shirts and lightweight technical pieces.
“By bringing together our heritage, expertise and creative standards, we have imagined a project that celebrates French ingenuity through a shared vision of performance and elegance,” explained Lacoste CEO Eric Vallat.
The design is reminiscent of the one-off red-and-white Renault Twingo created by designer Sabine Marcelis to celebrate the model’s 30th anniversary – although her version features much fewer crocodiles.
Other designer collaborations that have yielded colourful car concepts include Gustaf Westman’s Barbie-pink Mercedes-Benz, which comes with an integrated tent and picnic table.
The photography is by Marcin Kempinski.Â
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