Andrew Rizzo Some of the sneaker world’s most consequential inventions have come from the most unexpected places. Decades of Nike product can trace their lineage back to Bill Bowerman’s waffle iron. On Running was born from prototypes built with cut-up garden hoses. The list goes on. We can’t quite put Lacoste’s latest invention in that same company, but it shares a similar spirit: taking the properties of a familiar consumer product and integrating them directly into a piece of footwear.
Don’t look now, but Lacoste has been making some serious moves in the sneaker space. The brand recently refreshed its performance lineup with the Lacoste AG-LT Pro tennis shoe earlier this year, and its latest runway show, “Dress Code: No White Required,” further explored the intersection of tennis and fashion while celebrating Lacoste’s role in all of it. The standout was an all-new sneaker called the Ace-T, which features a literal tennis ball embedded in the heel.
The upper lends a futuristic impression with a humongous TPU frame featuring diamond cutouts, sort of like the Nike Kobe 3 in that regard. Techy mesh and canvas layering fall underneath, while the midsole, if you can call it that, stands out with slanted triangle cutouts that mimic forward motion. The heel is the obvious star of the show, splitting into a “V” shape to make space for a tennis ball squeezed between the bottom of the footbed and platform itself. While we can’t speak to the on-foot feel, what we know about tennis balls suggests a nice springy, propulsion-packed ride.
The Lacoste Ace-T is confirmed to release Spring/Summer 2027, though no hard date has been floated as of this writing. Peep upcoming colorways below if you’re as intrigued as we are.
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