Lacoste opens 8,000-plus sq-ft Seoul flagship and Korea’s first café

By Tom Whitfield

Lacoste has opened a flagship of more than 8,000 square feet across four levels in Seoul’s Seongsu district, adding its first Café Lacoste in South Korea to a local network of more than 230 points of sale.

Lacoste unveiled the store Friday. The French brand combines women’s, men’s and sports collections with a dedicated personalization space and the latest Café Lacoste outpost, serving beverages, desserts and exclusive merchandise. Its dessert menu includes the Polo Cake, which Lacoste describes as a playful culinary interpretation of the signature polo shirt.

Thierry Guibert, who returned as chief executive officer in October, said: “Our continued development of flagships around the world reflects our ambition to strengthen Lacoste’s international presence and desirability, while offering increasingly distinctive brand experiences.” He also described Seoul as “renowned for its creative energy and cultural influence.”

The statements establish brand intent, not a commercial result. The announcement gives no store sales target, capital cost, operating expense or payback period. It also identifies no factory, local sourcing contract or production capacity.

Over the summer, Lacoste took over the pool and outdoor lounge of the Mondrian hotel in Seoul’s Itaewon district. The summer hospitality project gives the brand another operating venue, but the announcement names no operator, investment level or commercial terms.

Location matters because Seongsu, occasionally called the “Brooklyn of Seoul,” developed as a footwear hub in the 1960s, with major manufacturers and a dense network of cobblers and materials suppliers. A major park project led its revitalization in the early 2000s, and the district has since attracted pop-up and luxury brands.

The historical supplier network supplies context rather than proof of current production capacity. Lacoste identifies no manufacturing operation or sourcing agreement tied to the flagship.

The four-level space draws on Seongsu’s industrial heritage and historic brick buildings. Terracotta interiors reference neighborhood brick walls and clay tennis courts, while white recalls the sport. A monumental installation depicting tennis racquets in motion anchors the store.

New York- and Mexico-based multidisciplinary artist Mauricio Alejo created that installation. Korean artists also produced commissioned pieces for display throughout the store.

Retail centers on the Polo Wall, which puts the signature polo shirt at the heart of the floor. A dedicated area allows selected items to be customized.

The store also aims to become a destination for Seoul’s creative community. Beyond the café’s drinks and desserts, it will sell exclusive merchandise. For channel and operations teams, this adds food service, staffing and inventory requirements to a fashion flagship, yet Lacoste names no café operator, food supplier, licensing structure or operating timetable.

What does the Seoul opening change for Lacoste?

It adds Seoul to a recent program of high-profile physical expansion, alongside the first Lacoste Café in Paris in February and a Hong Kong flagship in May.

It extends Lacoste beyond a network of more than 230 Korean points of sale into a larger, service-led format with artist commissions, customization and food and beverage sales. In commercial terms, this is brand theater with a service counter, not yet a disclosed earnings story.

The first Lacoste Café opened in February in a 65-seat space on Avenue Franklin-Roosevelt near the Champs-Élysées. In April, Lacoste introduced a new visual identity that evolved its logo and referenced René Lacoste’s handwriting and graphics associated with Robert George, who illustrated the first crocodile sketch.

A global campaign using the “Life Is a Beautiful Sport” tagline, first introduced in a 2014 campaign, also rolled out in April.

Lacoste opened a new Hong Kong flagship in May in the Pedder Building, a Grade I-listed historic structure dating from the 1920s in the city’s Central neighborhood. Its design follows the same balance of host-city architecture and Lacoste’s tennis heritage.

The next test is whether Lacoste reports store-level sales, café throughput or further openings after the Seoul launch. Until those data appear, the evidence supports a wider brand footprint, not a proven return on the flagship model.