“Eighty percent of Lacoste sales are men’s items,” Christophe Chenut, the company’s CEO, told me last week. “But 80% of the Lacoste clothing that is sold is bought by women.” Hello, opportunity. Lacoste, the French fashion label synonymous with preppy, founded in 1933 by tennis champ René “The Crocodile” Lacoste, is expanding like never before. Au revoir, Christophe Lemaire, who has just replaced Jean-Paul Gaultier at Hermes. Bonjour, Felipe Oliveira Baptista (pictured, *sigh*), a designer better known for womenswear. Lemaire’s departure was not linked to the company’s decision to branch out (he had been there a decade, after all). It’s all a part of the natural evolution, says Christophe Pillet, the design director.

Meanwhile, Lacoste has partnered with Catherine Malandrino for a capsule collection to arrive next month in US Catherine Malandrino and Lacoste boutiques as well as online (but not, sadly, in France). “We chose a designer who was known for femininity,” Chenut said. It didn’t hurt that she is also French. But this isn’t the only collab Lacoste is involved in. There’s a denim line, created with Earnest Sewn. Sure, Lacoste already had jeans. The new venture, to launch this summer, “had to be with a company that specialized in jeans and was recognized by aficionados as credible,” another rep, Olivier Bamberger, told me. I won’t get into the Lacoste-designed hotel in Morocco or the Lacoste concept cars dreamed up with Citroen. For now, let’s just say that there’s going to be a lot more than candy-colored polo shirts in the Lacoste boutiques. “In the beginning, Lacoste was associated with two and a half hours a week—the time you”d spend playing golf or tennis,” Chenut said. “Soon we will have evening wear, clothing to wear to the office, fashion jewelry—it will be for seven days a week.”