It was during that tournament Rene Lacoste struck a wager with his captain that if he won that important match for France, his captain would have to buy him a suitcase created out of alligator skin. As it happened, the match was won and Rene Lacoste was dubbed by media as well as the press at that time as the Alligator. His close friend, Robert George took the opportunity to sketch a tiny alligator which was then embroidered on Renes blazer. That was the start of the alligator brand named Lacoste and the alligator has not looked back since.
Rene and Andre Gillier in 1933 then decided to join hands to set up a company. Andre Gillier, by virtue of running a highly successful French knitwear firm, had the expertise and he had in Rene the right brand ambassador to further the already well known alligator brand. Both wanted to leverage the unique design for use in shirts for sports like tennis, golf, sailing and others. In fact they released the first collection in 1933 itself.
After that, the ride has been pretty smooth for the brand as it replaced sports shirts made of woven fabric and also extended its product range to include fragrances and colognes. Some of the popular ones were Cool Play Cologne, Lacoste Hot Play Cologne, Lacoste Pour Homme Cologne, Booster Cologne and many other such fragrances.
The brand then made its foray into footwear, socks and belts. By now people were pretty conversant and confident about the quality of the brand and took to these products with great enthusiasm. The brand was also greatly helped by prominent sports personalities like Andy Roddick and many others.
Indeed, very few brands have stood the test of time for so long and kept gaining in popularity even as competition kept increasing. It is a tribute to the high standards of quality and consistency of Lacoste that it has continued to elicit interest and brand loyalty from its many fans all over the world.
Semen, Mercury, & Bird Droppings = A History of Cosmetics
The history of cosmetics isn't something to read your kids to sleep with. You don't want to talk about the days of ancient Egypt when makeup was lead-lined, mercury-filled, and semen was applied as a skin treatment! The sight of ruined and cancerous faces with drops of seminal fluid dripping down them isn't something to inspire faith with skin care manufacturers and the cosmetic industry.
Then came bird-droppings on Japanese Geishas, burned-matches for mascara among England's upper-class, shaved eyebrows tattooed back on among female Chinese nobles, and hot combs to straighten Black women's hair here in America. These are but a few of the harsh methods undertaken for the unreachable, nigh impossible to achieve standards of beauty that have plagued women since before the ancient Greek sculptures of Aphrodite.
These days our concerns about cosmetic ingredients have moved from synthetics to organics, from petroleum to castor oil, and from whale blubber to crushed insects.
Do they test on animals? Do they use organic ingredients? Are they sustainable? Is it safe? The public chamber echoes this same sentiment: people are scared of what they're putting on their skin and on their face.
But let the profits speak for themselves. We're still using cosmetics. A recent study shows the cosmetic industry is fairly recession proof. We hope or maybe we just ignore the reality of our small space in the consumer world - that we are powerless.
Except we're not. To combat cosmetics companies who sell unsafe products our only recourse is to educate ourselves about what we buy, what we use, and how. Knowing is the only way to deal with not-knowing (which is what we're really afraid of - the unknown). Pressure cosmetic companies to seek out natural skin care manufacturers organic ingredients. Check http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/ for reports on safe cosmetics.
Become that person at in the market who obsessively checked the labels. Become the annoying customer who asks many questions about a store's products. Demand more for what you pay. As consumers we're only treated as well as we ask for, and it's naïve to expect any different.
Evesham's History
Eveham is a place with lots of rich stories which you would not want to miss at the local pub. This town has seen so many things, from disputes, battles to disasters.
Evesham was the home of one of the worst battles to take place the Battle of Evesham. This battle is still talked about between many historians to this day. Some claim it may have been one of the worst battles of that time.
The Abby is actually part of a historical quirk. Evesham sits in the middle of a river loop. The city of Bengeworth sits on the other side of the river. During a battle, for the castle that is split by this river some of the knights got drunk. During this drunken spree, the knights damaged a couple of gravesites on the other side.
This gave the monks living in the Abby a reason to defend them.
In the process of all of this, the castle was leveled. To this day, you can still see the after effects of this battle when you look at the layout of shops and streets.
The town has also seen its share of natural disaster. In 1998, the town was hit hard by the floods that came because of the River Avon overflowing its banks. Homes were swept away like a house of cards, which caused concern about the integrity of the Workman Bridge. Officials were worried with all of the homes becoming wedged in the bridges arches that the bridge would fail. In 2007 the town was hit hard again by record flooding. This time the flooding was even worse than it was nine years earlier. Through all of this, the town continues to thrive and prosper. It even in the last few years has started to become a visitor hot spot for foreign tourist.
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