above: a detail of the porcelain shard LACOSTE shirt by artist Li Xiaofeng
Since 2006, each year the Lacoste brand commissions a designer, design team or artist to create a special Holiday Collector's Series of of their classic L.12.12 polo shirt. Past designers included Tom Dixon (2006), Michael Young (2007), R.E.M frontman Michael Stipe (2008) and The Campana brothers in 2009.
For 2010, Chinese artist Li Xiaofeng, best known for his porcelain fragment sculptures, has created both an outstanding porcelain sculpture of a LACOSTE shirt as well as wearable Holiday Collector's editions of the L.12.12 Polo for men and women.
The Porcelain Polo
The actual porcelain Lacoste Shirt is the most expensive Lacoste Polo to date. The art piece features porcelain shards printed with Chinese characters, symbols, red phoenix birds and variations of the Lacoste alligator and logotype as well as a wax seal.
the artist at work:
above photos by Miko He
The Cotton Polo
Now, for the actual wearable cotton Lacoste 2010 Holiday Collector's Series L.12.12 polo shirts, which will be be produced in a limited number of 20,000.
The men's and women's wearable cotton polo shirts designed for the Holiday Collector's Series for 2010 by Li Xiaofeng features a textile pattern that emulates broken porcelain shards from the Kangxi Period (1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912).
This print represents happiness and exuberant youth according to Li Xiaofeng. Originally the reason for images of babies was to promote the births and good health of children in an era of high infant mortality. Li points out that joy continues exist even in a life that is always faced with difficulties, a life where we must continually reassemble the pieces after setbacks. Li photographed each of the shards and placed them in life-sized digital pattern of each part of the polo.
above left: the Men's limited edition polo shirt and right; the Women's version
special thanks to photographer Miko He, Jing Daily and Nels Frye of Stylites for images and information