The favorite position of today’s teens is forward-fashion forward, that is. Brightly colored soccer shorts, worn with the right pocket T and chunky Nike sandals, are the uniform kids wear to the beach, the mall or the movies.
Teen fashion tends to follow popular sports, and soccer is gaining ground among young people, according to Irma Zandl, president of Xtreme, a youth-marketing firm. But not everyone who wears the shorts is a soccer fan. “I like them because they’re comfortable, baggy and easy to get,” says Evan Osnos, a high-school junior from Connecticut. These nylon shorts-the hot ones come from the American company Umbro-are being sold in sports shops and shoe stores like Foot Locker ($19.99). They’re based on traditional men’s and women’s soccer uniforms, but -they come in a wide variety of colors, from fluorescent reds and yellows to the standard black with white stripes down the sides. The fad may be a hopeful sign: if clothes make the man, maybe uniforms will make some athletes.
