Origin Stories of Famous Logos

About a week ago I read a very interesting story about some of the most famous fashion logos in the world–their origin stories if you will. I thought this should definitely be shared with Inside That Ad’s audience. Without further ado, let’s explore some of these famous logos.

Lacoste

René Lacoste and his tennis coach Alan Muhr made a bet involving a crocodile-skin suitcase. Mr. Lacoste didn’t win the bet but a journalist gave him the nickname “The Alligator.” American artist Robert George brings the crocodile logo to life in 1927.

Burberry

In 1901, the brand held a competition to find a new logo. The winning design: a mounted knight wearing medieval armor, an image that reflected Burberry’s desire to shield the British from bad weather via its water-wicking gabardine. This logo has a similar origin story to another logo that we’ll discuss here–Nike.

Nike

Co-founder Phil Knight met student Carolyn Davidson during his last week teaching college accounting. Two years later she was paid $35 to design the now famous swoosh. One of the logo requirements was that the logo convey motion. Now the logo is world famous on everything involving sports and sports marketing. Nike was named after the Greek Goddess of victory who sported an impressive pair of gossamer wings and was known to parade around battlefields, celebrating and booyeahing winning soldiers. Davidson wanted to portray the spirit of Nike in a simple, yet elegant design.