Crocodile Garments

Crocodile Garments

Company type	Public company
Industry	Textiles, Apparel
Founded	1952
Founder	Dr. Chan Shun
Headquarters	Hong Kong , Hong Kong
Key people	Vanessa Lam (Chairman and CEO)
Products	Dress shirts, women's and children's apparel (including CrocoKids), Cal-Thomas brand
Parent	Lai Sun Garment

Crocodile Garments () is a Hong Kong-based company specializing in textiles and apparel. Established in 1952 by the late Dr. Chan Shun (1917–1997), the enterprise is presently managed by chairman and CEO Ms. Vanessa Lam.

History

Dr. Chan initially earned a living by mastering sewing and repairing sewing machines while traveling through various towns in China. He launched the business under the name Li Wah Man Shirt Factory in 1952. The Crocodile Garments brand was created to symbolize products that are both durable and luxurious, akin to crocodile skin. The trademark, originally registered by German interests in 1910, was subsequently seized by British authorities following World War II.

In 1970, Chan stepped down and handed over leadership to his offspring. The company was publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1971, and later acquired in 1987 by Lai Sun Garment, a firm under the control of billionaire Lim Por Yen.

While initially concentrating on dress shirt production, Crocodile Garments expanded to become Hong Kong’s largest garment retailer, exporting goods to markets including Japan and Singapore. The company also introduced a secondary brand, Cal-Thomas, targeting consumers in California, USA. The brand further broadened its portfolio with women's and children's apparel under the CrocoKids label, establishing itself as a prominent fashion brand before competitors such as G2000, Giordano, U2, and Bossini gained prominence during the 1990s. In 1980, Crocodile entered into an exclusive distribution partnership with French company Lacoste for Hong Kong.

From 2015 through 2020, the company’s stock value dropped by 72%. In 2019, members of the founding family came under investigation by Canadian tax authorities concerning offshore entities utilized for substantial charitable contributions.

Legal dispute with Lacoste

Although Crocodile Garments held an exclusive distribution agreement with French firm Lacoste in Hong Kong, a longstanding conflict arose regarding their similar crocodile logos—Crocodile’s emblem faces left while Lacoste’s faces right.

Lacoste secured its trademark registration in mainland China in 1980, coinciding with an agreement granting Crocodile exclusive rights to retail Lacoste products within Hong Kong. When Crocodile attempted to register its trademark on the Chinese mainland, Lacoste initiated lawsuits in both Hong Kong and Beijing in 1998, seeking compensation of 3.5 million yuan and asserting that Crocodile had consented not to use a similar logo outside Hong Kong.

Lacoste prevailed in the Hong Kong case in 1999. After extended legal battles over trademark rights in China, a settlement reached in 2003 required Crocodile to alter its logo by adding more scales and angling the tail more vertically. In 2013, Crocodile Garments obtained permission to appeal this trademark ruling in New Zealand. The New Zealand Supreme Court upheld the principle of "use it or lose it" in 2017, endorsing Crocodile’s petition to revoke Lacoste’s exclusive crocodile trademark there due to Lacoste’s failure to market products locally.

In September 2024, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled against Lacoste by affirming previous lower court decisions that dismissed Lacoste’s claims regarding the logo dispute. The court emphasized clear distinctions between the two trademarks, deeming them sufficiently distinguishable.