Lacoste Lerond White Sneakers Review

White shoes in general has been always difficult for me to start wearing. I wasn’t able to get over the fact that: “omg it’ll get dirty really easy and when it does, it’s so obvious”. Not gonna lie though, I’ve always thought of it as something stylish and nice to pair with any style and fashion. It’s flexible and clean too. This month I finally took the plunge, bought my very first pair of white shoes: Lacoste Lerond! I gotta say, it’s awesome for the most part with some small exceptions…~anyways, that’s what the article is about, so I can provide details.

If you’re looking for a review of this product, then you’ve come to the right place. If you’re looking for personal development information, still the right place! How? I’m about to teach you how white sneakers can complement your style. And yes you should care about your style, your well-being, and looking good and feeling good, for yourself!

In a broader context, let me give you some guidance on how to style white shoes/sneakers, especially in men’s fashion.

Style

Well it’s pretty obvious, this shoe is definitely beautiful, stylish and versatile. I can end it right there.

Having white shoes, especially for men, is definitely a requirement nowadays. Ok, it’s not “required” but it definitely gives you variability and options. It’s something you can wear with denim, slacks, or “casualiz-ing” your formal wear.

Having a light-coloured piece also gives a highlight to your attire (you can achieve the same effect with wearing dark tones all over and then capping (ha) it off with a clean white hat). At the same time it gives you a cheerful vibe!

Another is that it’s definitely flexible and super useful come the non-winter seasons!

Caution: You may notice that 'hey, those aren't Lacoste shoes in the internet photos'. You're right and that's intentional. I'm showing you how versatile white shoes in general are. At the same time, I really wanted to get Lacoste shots but it's all white! white shoes, white shorts, white shirts..on a white studio background. Even the models are all white lel. There's not much variety and not much samples in real life. 

You want some prestige to it? Your pair comes with that recognizable, prominent, yet minimalistic-at-the-same-time croc logo 😉

Material

I think this is also important to discuss and show because it’s definitely not obvious in pictures when they’re selling it.

You know me, when I talk about things in this website, I always try to break it down to its simplest form. So when it comes to the material the top two most popular ones are either leather or canvas. I’m sure there are others too (e.g.: Suede) but these two are the most popular, at least with white shoes for men.

So what is “canvas”? I don’t know the specific description but just think of it as: canvas == cotton or fabric. This pair is canvas.

There are pros and cons for either leather or canvas. Lacoste offers both and other several styles and materials by the way. Sneakers with leather material offers water-repellency (read: harder to get dirty, easier to clean), to an extent. At the same time, since that material is thick, you lose on the breathability (read: hello sweaty feet in the summer).

Canvas/fabric is the opposite wherein it’s breathable due to the material but it can be difficult to maintain/clean. At the moment, I prefer canvas shoes actually, rather than leather materials. Why?

• because it’s my first pair, I want to experiment and I don’t want to commit
• if I wanted proper look, leather, that’s when you pull out dress shoes anyways
• stylistically, I prefer non-glossy, textured surfaces

Maintenance

Ok, that leads us to “how is the maintenance of this thing”? I’ll admit, part of the reason why I started sporting white anything this year is because I think I’m ready and I want to prove to myself that I’m not a clumsy, dirty kid 😂 ; that I can handle white pieces of clothing. I don’t want to miss out just because of fear of getting dirty lol.

Now as for this Lacoste Lerond and adding the fact that this is canvas, it does get dirty easy. To be fair, that’s the challenge for most white shoes/pieces of clothing anyways. It can be difficult to clean as well. I mean it’s cleanable, and it’s not like all stains/dirts are permanent. I just mean that it’s not a 2-minute quick swipe and everything’s clean.

We had this backyard celebration this past weekend and I had the perfect opportunity to try it out. The bottom of your shoes, well yea that’s gonna get dirty. We don’t care about that. We had this ‘water balloon catching’ event and a balloon exploded on my feet sending water and dirt on my shoe.

“How easy is it to clean?”

I didn’t look at my shoe actually because I didn’t want to be that uptight guy. I only paid attention to it 30m after and turns out 40% of my left shoe actually had considerable water/dirt on it. Since it’s been a while already, half of it dried up already and half still wet. With the dry parts, I just dusted them off with my hand and they came off surprisingly very easy. No smudge, stain, etc. Now for the wet part (learn from my mistake here), I tried to wipe it off and guess what that caused it to smudge.

I was like, “ok I’ll take care of this when I get home”. When I did,I did a simple brush + soap/water to brush it off, specifically just the smudged part and it started to appear like it’s disappearing. I thought it did and I left it out to dry but afterwards I noticed that I just spread the smudge and make it lighter. Stupidly, I did the same thing again, and of course, same result. I was trying to put off properly and completely cleaning my shoe but I guess that was the only choice. I did so and the dirt’s gone.

Proper clean = get a bucket, fully soak the shoe, brush and rinse it repeatedly, then sun to dry.

Re: the lower/rubber part

For the lower part of the shoe (the rubber part), I noticed that at the end of the day there were marks. I think I got it from the shoe rubbing in the car floor/sides or if one grazes on sidewalks/pavements etc. This part I’m not too concerned because sure it gets marked easy, but it’s quick and easy to remove. I just did paper towel + water and everything came off completely, easily.

Grass wasn’t a problem; nor dirt (so long as it’s dry). So nothing concerning if you’re in an outdoorsy/grass area.

Quality

I think overall the product quality here is good. It’s not excellent like it’s an ultra premium product but it’s definitely not on the cheap side either (except for one thing).

I feel like the construction is the same as my Adidas pair, which you will see below. I think whatever problem one experiences, the other will too. E.g.: if you force to play basketball with either you’ll probably tear the fabric off the rubber eventually. You’re using the wrong tool for the job anyways.

My own irk in this whole product is the insole.

See that jagged insole?! It’s kind of a turn off for me. Sure it doesn’t affect your style….but it still bugs me deep down. I think for this brand and for having the price tag three-digits, I feel like this shouldn’t occur. At first I thought I got a bad batch….but it’s on both!

Compare that to my Adidas (canvas as well, just blue) which is moderately used already.

I just hope that jagged-y thing doesn’t result to worse problems later on…

Everything else is awesome, so I’ll report any other findings later on.

Foot comfort is 👌 as well. It’s like any other canvas shoes in terms of comfort and stability so don’t go comparing it to the like of Adidas Air Zooms or PureBoosts. I think it’s a mm or cm thicker than my adidas so there’s some more relative comfort there.

Fit

Lacoste website reviews and retail store website reviews say they run narrow, but I bought mine closest to my size (mind you I don’t use US/UK/EU sizing. I literally have my foot size measured and written down in centimetres and every time I shop online, I use that and always look at the brand/product’s size chart and that’s how I determine which size to buy). Having done that, it just fits perfectly for me and I even have some space in my toe box.

Price

I think the price is justifiable. Depending on where you look, it’s priced around $120 -$140 CAD. I got mine on a discount so, huzzah! I get to upgrade my wardrobe and keep my financial habit in check 😀

Wrap Up

Lacoste Lerond is definitely a good pair! It’s stylish, clean, versatile! With great power “definitely comes with responsibilities (read maintenance section above)” but I’d rather have it than not. It’s part of maturity in terms of fashion sense, finesse, and classiness 😉

White sneakers in general is definitely, always a great idea to add to men’s wardrobe.

The branding definitely helps add that next layer of value to your style, but it can be a gamble. If you’re talking to knowledge-able fashionista, they would know that Lacoste isn’t the most innocent brand (but then so as almost all fashion/luxury brands) and technically Lacoste isn’t solidly a “luxury brand” but rather a bridge to it (they’re “accessible luxury”).

Edit(30 Jul 2024): If you're contemplating on purchasing the leather Lacoste Carnaby Pro, I also have a review for that one now!