With summer styles on the brain, there have been rumblings about the return of the polo. Not the Jonny-collar knit kind that every retailer seems to be pedaling, but the classic version, the piqué polo.
First introduced by René Lacoste in the mid-1920s as an alternative, more comfortable option for tennis, the short-sleeve top — featuring a soft collar, buttoned placket, and, most importantly, a piqué-cotton grid that offered a unique honeycomb texture and increased breathability — quickly caught on with the likes of Lacoste’s namesake brand and, eventually, Ralph Lauren.
Serving as a bridge between casual sportswear and more formal warm-weather dressing, it was quickly and uniformly adopted by men at large, a cohort that included some of the most iconic dressers in history. Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen were routinely photographed scowling in tidy alligator-logo polos, while Harrison Ford’s film festival circuits — recent fascination of every IG moodboard account — often included a navy polo tucked into dark wash jeans. (More recently, Jacob Elordi, Jeremy Allen White and Shawn Mendes have championed the style.)
Menswear guys seem to think that it’s high time the piqué polo made a return. After a rough decade or so — the style has been co-opted as VC-backed “performance” apparel, maligned as boring, if not outright unattractive, reclaimed (now in the aforementioned knit form) as the accessible incarnation of Amalfi holiday style and tossed through the Hollywood blender — the polo is being labeled as the trending top of the summer, spurred on by an influx of runway inspiration and the ongoing Y2K mall-era revival.
This is all well and good: it’s true that polos remain a prime investment for a season packed with al fresco dining, beach outings and the occasional wedding (the only activities that men are allowed to pursue from June-August).
It is worth pointing out, however, that the semantics of the trend discourse ignores about a century of menswear history that established the piqué polo as the de facto causal-but-not-too-casual shirting choice for guys everywhere, but as a pillar of the modern, westernized wardrobe as much as denim, boat shoes or the OCBD.
Regardless, it’s that ubiquity that makes it easy to see why men are clamoring for the style now. Functionally a t-shirt and a collared button-up wrapped into a comfortable knit package, a well-fitting polo is basically a sartorial cheat code — an endlessly versatile, extremely wearable silhouette that slots into a preexisting warm-weather wardrobe and can be worn with everything from mesh shorts to a crispy linen-blend suit.
Classic styles from Lacoste ($110) and J.Crew ($80) pair exceptionally well with trousers and remain solid options with a handful of fits and dozens of color options, but newer brands are putting their own spin on the polo, too. Hanover, the brainchild of a consultant and known polo wear Chris Black, currently offers a substantial, American-made version ($110) with a slightly more modern (read: slouchy) fit, with Corridor’s garment-washed polo ($145) offers a coveted lived-in look. (Both look excellent when paired with some straight-leg denim and loafers.)
Upstream, popular menswear labels are doubling down on premium fabrics and trusted fits. Todd Snyder’s three-placket polo ($98) looks suspiciously like a Harrison Ford special, while the Drake’s option ($225) features an ultra-soft milled-in-Portugal cotton. (Both make sense for your upcoming euro holiday.) Meanwhile, NYC-based Stòffa is reinterpreting casual with an elevated take ($450) on the style — sans placket — that would serve any semi-formal wedding guest well. Even designers like Celine are issuing their own version ($690) for the splurgiest, most fashion-forward crowd, albeit with outrageous cut and chic design codes tailor-made for oversized jorts and high-octane sunglasses.
All of which to say — regardless of its form, the piqué polo is here to stay. Which means you should probably invest in a few for summer.
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