Bio
Erik Lautier
Erik Lautier has spent the last 12 years building the online businesses of both startups and established brands
throughout the apparel and cosmetics industries. His experience spans nearly all areas of e-commerce: he's
coded transactional sites and order fulfillment systems from scratch, managed SEM and SEO strategy,
launched affiliate programs, directed social media strategy, tweeted on behalf of brands, and even had tollfree customer service numbers ring directly into his cell phone.
Mr. Lautier currently serves as Senior Director of E-Commerce and Digital Strategy at Lacoste USA. He joined
the iconic crocodile in September 2010, leading the e-commerce channel to 50 percent growth in his first year
with the brand. Prior to Lacoste, Mr. Lautier spent more than three years at EDUN, the ethical fashion brand
owned by Ali Hewson, Bono and LVMH. While there, he launched the global web business.
A former professional opera singer and actor, Mr. Lautier spent several years on stage and on camera before
starting a web development company to serve the performing arts industry. He holds a bachelor of arts in
drama from Duke, two masters in vocal performance and opera from the New England Conservatory of Music,
and an M.B.A from INSEAD, where he was the recipient of the L’Oreal Scholarship for Creativity and
Entrepreneurship.
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Encyclopædia Britannica Article
- Lacoste, (Jean-) René
(born July 2, 1904, Paris, Francedied Oct. 12, 1996, Saint-Jean-de-Luz) French tennis player and sportswear entrepreneur. He was noted for a methodical game in which he tried to outlast his opponents. He won the Wimbledon (1925, 1928) and French (1925, 1927, 1929) singles titles and became the first foreigner to win the U.S. championship twice (1926, 1927), the second time beating Bill Tilden. He also won various doubles matches. Nicknamed the Crocodile, he retired in 1929 to form a sportswear company that featured a crocodile (later an alligator) emblem on its clothes.
- Lacoste, (Jean-) René on britannica.com
© 2010 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.