Overview
Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week trends predicted a move toward sportswear this season, but French label le coq sportif have been running this trend for years. If you're getting somewhat inspired by the peloton pizazz of the Tour de France, you should cycle down to the The Rocks and get amongst the everyday sportswear of this new boutique.
The label's second Australian concept store is open for business and launching its exclusive 'Atelier du coq' service, where you can customise your own garments with traditional retro sporty flocking techniques. The personalising service has only two other locations worldwide, Paris and London, and lets you handpick your own colour, design and base combinations for your very own sweet get up.
Housed in a heritage-listed, square-pane windowed space on George Street in The Rocks, the newest le coq sportif store is an adorable space decked out with exposed pipes, polished wooden floorboards and cream-washed walls. Tackling the classic don't-touch-the-walls heritage-listing conundrum, the team have created hovering hanging space from metal piping (much like the Denham pop-up next door — they're both owned by Hilton Seskin, owner of Topshop and Glue).
Le coq sportif is no spring chicken in the sportswear market. Founded in 1882 by Émile Camuset, the company started producing fashion in the '40s. The brand don't just preach their love of sportswear, they practice with the actual pros; sponsoring football, boxing, cycling and tennis teams worldwide.
The brand finds a subtle balance between legit, performance-inspired sportswear and sport-inspired casualwear — and they've now got a crack team of Australian designers on board, who are cranking out casual collections like the wonderfully retro Aussie women's winter line.
But you came here to customise, let's get on it. It's a pretty straightforward, relatively quick process. First, pick your design. In a process not dissimilar from choosing your own tattoo design, flick through a portfolio of 20 archival le coq designs and choose your poison.
There's a significant amount of retro love in the options — the logo of the Zaire Leopards, the first sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the World Cup in Germany in '74; the Saint Etienne football team logo and the most popular of the bunch: the original '70s le coq sportif rooster logo.
Next, pick your base. Whether you're an oversized jumper type of chiller, a snug sporty t-shirt enthusiast or a sucker for a deep v-neck, you've got all your grey marles, nautical navys and bright sporting greens to choose from.
Then, pick your flock. Using a particularly furry type of retro flock, you can choose between around eight different colours to print your design on your base. We went for a white flock on navy for a classic, boaty vibe and a pink flock on grey marle for wearable '90s nostalgia. After you've locked everything in, your friendly neighbourhood le coq sportif teamster sends the design from the computer to the flock printer.
Then it's time to Zen out and carve out the vinyl with a scalpel.
When your design's looking top notch, it's time to pop the design in the centre of your garment and send it off to the press for a quick heating party.
Then, the moment of truth.
Now you're done, ready for some street strutting in your new customised threads.
All up, the whole thing will cost under $100. T-shirts are $50, colour v-necks are $60 and jumpers are $90, flocking included. Not a bad price for your own personalised threads.
Le coq sportif can be found at 79 George Street, The Rocks; (02) 8252 9703; www.lecoqsportif.com.au.
Still shopping? Head next door to the Denham pop-up.