Style File

LOOK
Hybrid jerseys made from two jersey halves sewn together.

BREAKDOWN
Last year Matt Steichen, then a 16-year-old sophomore at Bartlett (Ill.) High, attended Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta with his dad, Craig. Matt, a Bills fan, took a Rams jersey and a Titans jersey and attached them to each other with safety pins. After being stopped by several intrigued fans and reporters, the Steichens returned to this year's game with some homemade models. They gave one to rapper Nelly, who wore it during his performance on the halftime show, giving the jerseys the kind of exposure the father-and-son team couldn't have bought. The Steichens have since formed a company, Torn Apparel, and have signed with the NBA and sportswear giant Champion to produce NBA-themed jerseys, including a Lakers home and away shirt (left).

CRITIQUE
"It's a conversation piece," says Elena Romero, an editor for fashion trade magazine DNR. "This shirt is for 2001 what Hawaiian shirts were for young people in the 1980s."