FASHIONS Young men are looking for clothing that establishes their personal identity

Retailers respond as young men start to catch up to girls with interest in clothes.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Victor Ross glides briskly through Independence Center mall outside Kansas City with the ease of a young man who just bought the place.
He lives more than an hour away, but often on Saturday afternoon he and his friends are here on the outskirts of Independence, Mo., traipsing through cool stores such as Abercrombie & amp; Fitch, Pacific Sun or Hot Topic.
In Abercrombie, he likes the cargo pants -- "a must" for all the pockets. Ditto for cable sweaters and faux shearling coats. Across the way at Pac-Sun, the colorful jerseys with logos are cool.
But as for his own wardrobe, it is a bit more diverse. His favorite things include a pine green '80s preppy polo shirt his grandfather passed down, plaid pants he was thrilled to find at a vintage store and an authentic military pea coat his friend's grandfather gave him.
Ross, 18, a high-school senior, is one of an apparently growing number of young men who have distinct tastes in dress and shop for clothes with, well, if not the passion, certainly the will traditionally credited to young women.
The young men's market is the hottest in the men's industry, second only to the young women's arena, says Marshal Cohen, co-president of NPDFashionworld, a division of NPD, which tracks market data.
"A lot more young people are coming into the store, shopping," says Todd Epperley, sportswear buyer for Kansas City's Halls, a specialty store. "They're looking more for personal identity," he says, and are attracted by such trends as retro and denim.
Looking sharp
Consider Ross again. When he wants to look really good, he wears his baby-blue button-down shirt with a white T-shirt. And sometimes for fun, he throws a tie over a collarless shirt. He makes his own jewelry, including a suede band for his watch and the leather choker at his neck.
He is a Lenny Kravitz kind of guy, he admits. He likes to mix things up serendipitously.
Charles Lavole-Wheeler, who just turned 15, is at home in the Lucky Brand store on Kansas City's Country Club Plaza.
At Lucky, he likes the colorful logo shirts embellished with sayings such as "Aren't You Lucky?" or "Lucky's Chop shop."
"It shows you have a sense of humor," Charles says with a dimpled grin. It's the same reason he likes his Tommy Bahama bowling shirt decked with a martini glass on the back.
As for jeans and khakis, they don't interest him. "They're just jeans. They don't say anything."
Attitude changed
Tim Lee, 17 and a high-school junior, has taken a more serious, cleaned-up approach to clothes since he started working at the Polo-Ralph Lauren store on the Country Club Plaza about a year ago. "I don't think I respected them like I do now."
Standing in front of a three-way mirror in the store, he poses in some of his favorite items -- a pullover gray knit vest, cotton striped dress shirt and black trousers.
"I started paying attention to what I got. And I look at all the catalogs we get here at work."
He soon learned to choose his investments carefully. "I'm working to build a wardrobe of pieces I can count on having for a long time," he says with the sincerity of an applicant in a college interview.
For school, he may wear jeans, khakis, sweats and sports shirts. But in any event, "I like to stand out a little bit."
"Image is everything to a kid," says Cohen of NPDFashionworld. "When kids reach a certain age, they find the best way to express themselves is with apparel."
It allows for individuality, and it gives him a chance "to engage with a group."
Young people are now exposed to so many more images than their parents or grandparents, Cohen says. They see movies, videos, video games and MTV, and they develop a diversity of interests. All those images have an impact.
Major interests
David Spangler, an executive with STS Market Research, agrees. Boys and young men are interested in three things -- sports, music and clothes, in varying order.
It's unfortunate that the young men's apparel industry has not been able to create new trends with the same appeal of the baggy, hip-hop look that has dominated the youth market for more than a decade, says Spangler, a former Levi Strauss executive. Many companies, including Levi, have tried and failed. Baggy (or what Spangler calls "sloppy") has been so successful, in part, because it is not likely to be adapted by adults.
Meanwhile, some companies, even on an upscale level, are making a special effort to reach the young.