<p>World Cup is also a platform for players to ink millions-worth sponsorship deals.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Go ahead and ask a few menswear designers and fashion editors about the star players in the World Cup in Brazil, and they aren’t talking about who’s going to score the most goals or which player is the best attacking midfielder in Group B. No, all the talk is about who’s got the best face, the best hair and that tight body that’s just right for their clothes.<br /><br />“They’re some of the best-looking athletes,” Dao-Yi Chow, half of the design team at Public School, said at a GQ World Cup party after after his label won a menswear award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.<br /><br />“They just have that build,” said Tim Coppens, another CFDA winner. “They’re elegant.”<br /><br />Kevin Carrigan, a global creative director at Calvin Klein, said, “When you think of designing underwear, it just lends itself to footballers.”<br /><br />Take a deep breath, everyone. The World Cup begins on Thursday, and the fashion world is ready. Every four years, designers have a chance to locate, scout and mint a new fashion star. A footballer has the looks, a dash of international flair and a frame made for designer clothes. Julie Ragolia, fashion director at Man of the World magazine, said the fashion world’s deep interest in soccer is easy to explain: “They are the perfect sample size. They are not huge like an American football or basketball player. You can take a footballer and put him in a sample, and he’d look 100 percent beautiful.”<br /><br />A short list has already emerged of the next World Cup-bound players who are ripe for ad campaigns and reserved front-row seats. It starts with a bunch of players who go casually by one name, a couple of Brazilians (Neymar and Oscar), and a player from Japan (Keisuke Honda), with a few Europeans thrown into the mix. David Beckham, the former British player, became a bona fide fashion star. After he got a faux hawk? So did everyone else. His underwear ads run viral. He married a pop-star-turned-fashion-designer, and he’s got a front-row perch every season.The fashion world treats the soccer field like a runway.<br /><br />In previous World Cups, Armani has cast players like Kaka of Brazil and Andriy Shevchenko of Ukraine, while Dolce & Gabbana tapped Lionel Messi of Argentina. Dolce & Gabbana is dressing the Italian national team -- it has designed suits and sweaters to be worn by the players before and after games -- and tapped five members of that team for sultry underwear ads in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. Freddie Ljungberg, a former Swedish player, has a panther tattoo stamped just so between his abs and his nether region that was tailor-made for a series of ads he shot for Calvin Klein underwear. And then there is Japanese player Hidetoshi Nakata.<br /><br />And the fashion world wants to know: Where are the next Beckhams or Nakatas or Freddies? If there is one guy who’s gotten the early endorsement, it appears to be the biggest sensation in Brazil: Neymar. The 22-year-old is playing in his first World Cup, and his global popularity has made him an obvious candidate for the fashion world.<br /><br /> He appeared on the cover of Vogue Brazil alongside Gisele Bundchen, which was shot by Mario Testino. He’s also on the cover of the current WSJ magazine wearing a Calvin Klein Collection sweatshirt. He seems at ease with his body: YouTube is swimming with Neymar in underwear ads. “He’s kind of got it all: He’s good-looking, he’s a superstar, and Brazil is a major force in the World Cup regardless of what country that’s hosting it,” said Will Welch, the style editor at GQ. “Add in the fact that Brazil is hosting the cup, and that’s just ramping it up even further.”<br /><br />Welch said, “Fashion feels less like a natural part of his lifestyle right now than it does for Ronaldo,” speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo, the 29-year-old Portuguese player who has been in Armani underwear ads since 2010. More recently, he posed nude for the cover of Spanish Vogue, shielded discreetly by his girlfriend, model Irina Shayk, in a shot taken by Testino. Also baring a considerable amount of flesh is Neymar’s lesser-known team-mate Oscar, who is starring in a Brazil-specific ad campaign that includes Oscar stripped down into Calvin Klein skivvies. “He looks really hot and sexy in it,” Carrigan said. “It’s quintessential Calvin.”<br /></p>
<p>World Cup is also a platform for players to ink millions-worth sponsorship deals.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Go ahead and ask a few menswear designers and fashion editors about the star players in the World Cup in Brazil, and they aren’t talking about who’s going to score the most goals or which player is the best attacking midfielder in Group B. No, all the talk is about who’s got the best face, the best hair and that tight body that’s just right for their clothes.<br /><br />“They’re some of the best-looking athletes,” Dao-Yi Chow, half of the design team at Public School, said at a GQ World Cup party after after his label won a menswear award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.<br /><br />“They just have that build,” said Tim Coppens, another CFDA winner. “They’re elegant.”<br /><br />Kevin Carrigan, a global creative director at Calvin Klein, said, “When you think of designing underwear, it just lends itself to footballers.”<br /><br />Take a deep breath, everyone. The World Cup begins on Thursday, and the fashion world is ready. Every four years, designers have a chance to locate, scout and mint a new fashion star. A footballer has the looks, a dash of international flair and a frame made for designer clothes. Julie Ragolia, fashion director at Man of the World magazine, said the fashion world’s deep interest in soccer is easy to explain: “They are the perfect sample size. They are not huge like an American football or basketball player. You can take a footballer and put him in a sample, and he’d look 100 percent beautiful.”<br /><br />A short list has already emerged of the next World Cup-bound players who are ripe for ad campaigns and reserved front-row seats. It starts with a bunch of players who go casually by one name, a couple of Brazilians (Neymar and Oscar), and a player from Japan (Keisuke Honda), with a few Europeans thrown into the mix. David Beckham, the former British player, became a bona fide fashion star. After he got a faux hawk? So did everyone else. His underwear ads run viral. He married a pop-star-turned-fashion-designer, and he’s got a front-row perch every season.The fashion world treats the soccer field like a runway.<br /><br />In previous World Cups, Armani has cast players like Kaka of Brazil and Andriy Shevchenko of Ukraine, while Dolce & Gabbana tapped Lionel Messi of Argentina. Dolce & Gabbana is dressing the Italian national team -- it has designed suits and sweaters to be worn by the players before and after games -- and tapped five members of that team for sultry underwear ads in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups. Freddie Ljungberg, a former Swedish player, has a panther tattoo stamped just so between his abs and his nether region that was tailor-made for a series of ads he shot for Calvin Klein underwear. And then there is Japanese player Hidetoshi Nakata.<br /><br />And the fashion world wants to know: Where are the next Beckhams or Nakatas or Freddies? If there is one guy who’s gotten the early endorsement, it appears to be the biggest sensation in Brazil: Neymar. The 22-year-old is playing in his first World Cup, and his global popularity has made him an obvious candidate for the fashion world.<br /><br /> He appeared on the cover of Vogue Brazil alongside Gisele Bundchen, which was shot by Mario Testino. He’s also on the cover of the current WSJ magazine wearing a Calvin Klein Collection sweatshirt. He seems at ease with his body: YouTube is swimming with Neymar in underwear ads. “He’s kind of got it all: He’s good-looking, he’s a superstar, and Brazil is a major force in the World Cup regardless of what country that’s hosting it,” said Will Welch, the style editor at GQ. “Add in the fact that Brazil is hosting the cup, and that’s just ramping it up even further.”<br /><br />Welch said, “Fashion feels less like a natural part of his lifestyle right now than it does for Ronaldo,” speaking of Cristiano Ronaldo, the 29-year-old Portuguese player who has been in Armani underwear ads since 2010. More recently, he posed nude for the cover of Spanish Vogue, shielded discreetly by his girlfriend, model Irina Shayk, in a shot taken by Testino. Also baring a considerable amount of flesh is Neymar’s lesser-known team-mate Oscar, who is starring in a Brazil-specific ad campaign that includes Oscar stripped down into Calvin Klein skivvies. “He looks really hot and sexy in it,” Carrigan said. “It’s quintessential Calvin.”<br /></p>