Is the U.S. sports scene in need of a style icon ?

"Desperately. And they're in need of a tailor," said Wendell Brown, senior fashion editor at Esquire magazine.

"I hope Beckham has a major impact."

Former Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Jim Jackson said that while he believed Beckham would likely have an impact on U.S. sports stars fashion, most National Basketball Association (NBA) players were already "dressing the part."

"They made it mandatory for NBA players to dress up," Jackson said. "I think guys really accepted that and really took it as a challenge to step up their game."

In October 2005 the NBA implemented a dress code for its players, requiring them to wear "business casual" when off the court and taking part in team or league activities. Sleeveless shirts, short, t-shirts, sunglasses indoors, headphones and chains and pendants over clothing were all banned.

In defense of U.S. football and basketball stars, Esquire's Brown said that for many of them size impeded their style.

"One of the things that nobody really mentions about David Beckham is that the clothing is so geared to his shape," Brown said. "He is the perfect size to wear Dolce and Gabbana and Versace and Prada and Gucci."