Over 8 months in 1999, David Beckham's image appeared on the front cover of the Radio Times, Time Out, Midweek, GQ, Now, TV Times, OK, Vanity Fair and Marie Claire. A combination of outsdtanding football talent, good looks, marriage to a pop star, controversial incidents and style produced a new phenomenon - football star as style icon. How, from a sociological perspective, might we understand the Beckham phenomenon?