Izod

**The Izod Corporation** (officially stylized as **IZOD**) is an American mid-range clothing company that produces dressy-casual clothing, sportswear for men, as well as footwear and accessories. It is part of PVH, forming part of its Heritage Brands division along with Van Heusen, Arrow, Warner's, Olga, True & Co., and Geoffrey Beene. It is perhaps best known for its short-sleeved piqué polo shirt, formerly produced by Lacoste and featuring the Lacoste crocodile on the left breast, now replaced with an embroidered (or screen-printed on some golfwear) crest. One variation is the "IZ" patch instead of crest. Other Izod classics include the Harrington jacket G-9 model, also v-neck and cardigan sweaters. Today, the Izod brand competes most directly with the similarly-priced Chaps brand owned by Ralph Lauren Corporation, while competing more indirectly on the lower end with U.S. Polo Assn. and on the higher end with Nautica. Of PVH's two preppy-styled brands, Izod is the lower-priced of the two, slotting below Tommy Hilfiger in the lineup.

## History[edit source]

In the late 1930s, Vincent dePaul Draddy, an American businessman employed by David Crystal Co., needed a strong name to associate with his quality merchandise for menswear. While vacationing with his family in London, he encountered *Jack Izod's* tailoring boutique. Izod (himself a well-respected tailor) produced bespoke shirts and created the Windsor tie-knot for King George V, but was ready to retire, and accepted Draddy's offer to purchase the rights to his distinctive name. The *A.J. Izod of London* clothing company was introduced to the United States in 1938.

### Izod Lacoste[edit source]

Izod of London would become most notable for its pairing with the Lacoste shirt company from 1952 to 1993. Vincent Draddy began to license the Lacoste shirt to add prestige to the Izod line, but he could not find a market for the then-expensive $8.00 retail price (approximately equivalent to $77 in 2019). After Draddy began giving the shirts away to his famous friends, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bing Crosby, Daniel Platt, and John F. Kennedy, the shirts soon became popular with department stores. "Izod of London" became a brand known simply as "Izod Lacoste". While the shirts were equally Izod and Lacoste, they became abbreviated and popularized as "Izod" shirts (which led to the ongoing misunderstanding that the famous "Crocodile" is the "Izod" trademark).

### Growth[edit source]

In 1964, Bernard Lacoste took over the management of the company. Significant company growth was seen under Bernard's management. When he became president, around 300,000 Izod Lacoste products were sold annually. The Izod Lacoste brand reached its height of popularity in the US during the late 1970s and became the signature 1980s "preppy" wardrobe item, mentioned in *The Official Preppy Handbook*. The company also began to introduce other products into their line including shorts, perfume, optical and sunglasses, tennis shoes, deck shoes, walking shoes, watches, and various leather goods.

In 1977, Le Tigre Clothing was founded in an attempt to directly compete with Izod Lacoste in the US market, selling a similar array of apparel, but featuring a tiger in place of the signature Lacoste crocodile. Also, during this period Izod's parent, Crystal Brands, came under the management of General Mills, and purchased the Gant U.S.A. brand.

### Separation[edit source]

During the early 1990s, Izod Lacoste struggled to maintain the market dominance it had enjoyed in previous decades. The initial reaction from Crystal Brands was to separate the two names and target two groups of customers at once; "Izod" was re-introduced as moderate pricepoint apparel in department stores, while Lacoste was renamed "Lacoste Chemise", and re-positioned as a luxury lifestyle brand. Eventually, this tactic did not provide the financial gain Crystal had hoped and the license partnering ended in 1993. Sportloisirs S.A. purchased the Lacoste brand entirely in 1993, while Izod was sold to Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation in 1995.

PVH repositioned and restored some of Izod's previous relevance while introducing a number of product lines and brands, complete with an Izod "crest" logo, or patch. In addition to its sportswear, Izod designs a full range of men's suits, shirts, neckties, shoes, outerwear and fragrances, and continues to produce its famous polo shirts. Currently, within the PVH corp. the Izod branded shirt has become part of the biggest shirt company in the United States.

### Recent history[edit source]

From 2003 to 2007, PVH formed a licensing deal with Kellwood Company to produce Izod-branded women's clothing. Production of the women's line was brought in-house in 2007 until its discontinuation in 2015.

On January 7, 2015 parent company Phillips-Van Heusen announced that it would be closing all 120 Izod retail outlets due to an increasingly competitive environment driven by more premium brands in the outlet retail channel. This move will not affect Izod's growing wholesale business to department stores and other retailers. Coinciding with the closure of the retail outlets, in 2015 the women's line was discontinued.

In Spring 2016, Izod introduced the Advantage Polo, a new take on their traditional piqué polo featuring a cotton/polyester blend with natural stretch, moisture-wicking fabric, and UPF-15 sun protection. The Advantage Polo remains available today with various colors and patterns being offered depending on seasonal collection, with the core year-round colors as of 2021 being black, white, bright red, azure, and navy (with pale pink, turquoise, cobalt blue, bright purple, lemon yellow, orange, wine red, and olive green available as additional year-round Amazon-exclusive colors) and now outsells Izod's original 100% cotton Heritage piqué polo. The original cotton Heritage piqué polo remains available for purchase online on Amazon, but has not seen any styling updates since 2016. The Advantage brand was later expanded to include other products with stretch and/or moisture-wicking fabric such as fleece sweatshirts and button-down shirts.

On June 7, 2017, parent company PVH announced that it has reached a licensing agreement with Adjmi Apparel Group subsidiary Sports Products of America to manufacture women's sportswear, golfwear, and activewear under the Izod brand beginning February 2018, thus signifying Izod's return to the women's clothing market. Non-golf women's Izod products were put on hiatus in 2020, but were brought back in spring 2021.

On August 28, 2018, it was announced that PVH would expand the Izod brand to Europe starting with the Fall/Winter 2018 collection, initially in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. PVH claims the launch of the Izod brand should fill in the void between fast-fashion labels and premium American brands. This was followed by more of Europe, Russia, and the Middle East in Spring 2019.

In April 2019, it was announced that licensee Arvind was looking to sell its licensing rights to the Izod brand for the Indian market.

In early 2020, PVH announced its sustainability policy for its Izod and Van Heusen brands to eliminate single-use plastic from packaging by 2024, use 100% sustainable cotton by 2021, and use 100% sustainable polyester and nylon by 2025.

On July 14, 2020, PVH announced that it would close its remaining Heritage Brands retail outlets operating mainly under the Van Heusen name, most of which also carry Izod products. The Izod and Van Heusen brands are not being discontinued; the wholesale business, which sells their product to department stores, warehouse clubs, and online retailers, is not affected. The direct online sales platform for the Izod and Van Heusen brands will also remain active.

## Brands[edit source]

Since Izod's first brand, *Izod*, was launched in 1938, it has grown considerably to include a variety of essential, performance, and luxury brands.

### Current[edit source]

* **Izod (formerly Izod Classix)**: Izod's original brand for men. This line spans from tailored clothing, traditional cotton piqué knit polo shirts, shoes, fragrances, leather goods, underwear, neckwear, eyewear, and watches.
* **Izod Jeans**: Denim basics and weekend sportswear from the Izod line (currently licensed to and produced by 5 Star Blue).
* **Izod Saltwater Collection**: A collection of men's clothing with relaxed fits. This line typically includes oxford and chambray button-down shirts, chino shorts, lightweight polo shirts, and relaxed fit T-shirts (many with nautical and/or tropical themes).
* **Izod Advantage**: The performance line of Izod, Introduced in Spring 2016. This line typically features SportFlex stretch fabric and CoolFX moisture-wicking technology.
* **Izod Premium Essentials**: Introduced in Spring 2017 as **Heritage Essentials**, renamed to Premium Essentials with the Spring 2018 collection. A collection of dressy-casual clothing for men such as button-down poplin sport shirts, spring/summer interlock knit polo shirts, and wool blend sweater vests.
* **Izod PerformX**: Refers to three distinct lines. The first PerformX line referred to a high-tech sports collection aimed at winter sport gear, golfers, swimming, and IndyCar, often featuring lightweight microfibers and super pima cottons; this line was discontinued in 2016 and superseded by the Advantage line. The second PerformX line was a line of dress shirts featuring non-iron stretch fabric; discontinued in 2018. The PerformX name is currently used for a line of prescription eyewear.
* **Izod Golf**: The official golf line of Izod, including shirts, shorts, and pants, available for both men and women.
* **Izod Golf Z-Series**: Launched Spring 2020 as a golf line targeted towards Generation Z, distinguished from the standard Izod Golf line featuring slim fits and cotton/polyester blends. Since Fall 2020 this line has also been available in regular fits using the same cotton/polyester blends.
* **Izod Holiday**: The holiday collection of Izod, featuring fair isle sweaters and holiday-colored tartan long sleeve button-down shirts.
* **IzodEd**: A licensed line of schoolwear for children and young adults.

### Former[edit source]

* **Izod Club**: A line of dressy casual clothes from the 1990s, now discontinued.
* **Izod Luxury Sports (LX)**: Izod's 'red label' premium sportswear brand for men, with premium fabrics and finer attention to detail; such as name embroidery. As with the 'blue label' Luxury Sports spans from tailored clothing, sportswear, activewear, and accessories, to leather goods. Once available exclusively at Macy's stores, discontinued in 2014.
* **Izod XFG**: A line of high-performance golf apparel and activewear, now discontinued.
* **Izod Breeze Collection**: Originally introduced in Spring 2017 as part of the main Izod collection as The Breeze Shirt, spinoff products were introduced in Spring 2018 and eventually became its own distinct collection in Spring 2019. This product line is primarily focused on warm weather cooling with CoolFX technology, and is distinguished from the Advantage line by primarily focusing on cooling comfort rather than athletic performance. Discontinued in Spring 2020 and consolidated with the Advantage line.

## Availability[edit source]

The main retailers for the Izod brand are department store chains Kohl's, J.C. Penney, and Belk, online retailer Amazon.com, and directly via Izod.com. Since the summer of 2020, the brand has also been sold by Walmart on Walmart.com (but not in physical Walmart stores). Other retailers where Izod products can be found may occasionally include some smaller regional department store chains, off-price clothing stores, warehouse clubs, and regional or local clothing boutiques. Until 2018, the brand was formerly available at Macy's full-line stores, however, the brand can still occasionally be found at some Macy's Backstage locations.

## Sports sponsorships[edit source]

The former Continental Airlines Arena, in New Jersey, United States was renamed the Izod Center as of October 31, 2007, the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets' season opener. The company paid $1.4 million per annum for the naming rights during the first two years of the agreement, while the Nets remained tenants, which dropped to $750,000 per year for the balance of the five-year deal.

In 2009, Izod became the official apparel provider of the IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights Series. Izod produces T-shirts, polos, pullovers, hats, and umbrellas for league and team officials and the general public.

In 2010 Izod became the official title sponsor of the Izod IndyCar Series, a deal worth $10 million a year for 5 years. Izod discontinued its sponsorship in 2014.

## Advertising campaigns[edit source]

In fall 2016 leading up to the 2016 United States Presidential Election, Izod partnered with Internet sensation Ken Bone, who became notable for his red Izod sweater.

In spring 2017 and again in spring 2018, Izod has partnered with American tennis duo the Bryan brothers to promote the spring/summer collections.

In fall 2018 and 2019, Izod partnered with Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Saturday Night Live comedian Colin Jost to promote the fall/winter collections.