Jan 21, 2002/ FW/ --- Michael Jordan as a fashion icon? How about Shaq or Kobe?

Twenty years ago, a sports figure as a fashion icon was unheard of. After Michael Jordan came to the NBA and became the "face" for Nike, sports became another playing field for fashion.

It's not haute couture nor runway show material in the beginning. It was athletic shoes and gym clothes at best. Nevertheless, it was a multi-million dollar industry.

Every kid in the U.S. and eventually the world recognized the face of Michael Jordan, together with other athletes.

Shaq, Tiger Woods, Joe Montana, to name a few, became spokespersons for different companies, not necessarily sports related. Wayne Gretzky even launched his own label, the Wayne Gretzky collection.

Nike, Reebok, Adidas and other sports companies became the new fashion powerhouses, albeit, not in the same category as Giorgio Armani and Gianni Versace.

During the 1990s, fashion designers started embracing the sports arena on the runway. In Paris, Yohji Yamamoto started playing with the Adidas triple stripes. In New York, Keanan Duffty showed Reeboks in his shows while Nike launched its Maternity line during Spring 2002 season.

The sports companies continue to make inroads in the fashion industry which was traditionally reserved in the hallowed halls of high fashion.

As the world become smaller with the advent of new technology and mass communications, "fashion" is changing. The fusion between fashion and sports is inevitable.

Fashion for the masses is coming, the same way that ready-to-wear took hold during the 1960s, overshadowing haute couture.

So, are we going to wear sweat pants and tennis shoes all the time in the future?

Of course not. Like haute couture which kept its place in the fashion world, luxury fashion will continue to have its place.

We just have to make room for the sports companies and expect them to play major roles in the fashion industry.

Will Nike and Reebok replace Ralph Lauren? Of course not! But I will not be surprised if the fashion bigwigs collaborate with the sports companies.

They might look like strange bedfellows at first. We said the same thing with the AOL/Time-Warner deal. In less than a year, we started thinking of them as one.

It will be a fashion coup if and when Ralph Lauren makes his debut at the NBA.