Robert Martin

What Do You Think About Forever 21’s Honda Clothing Line?

Moto mall-style for the teenage masses

February 22, 2019

The perpetually youthful clothing brand Forever 21 teamed with Honda for a 1990s, motocross-inspired collection. There's a lot of neon colors, spandex (for the ladies), and pseudo motocross pants—all with "Honda" front and center.

The inspirational machine behind the line? The ’95 Honda CR250 in all its bold graphic-ed glory.Honda

Part of me—the curmudgeonly part—hates it. It’s easy to imagine a mob of angsty, texting teenagers running around the mall wearing fake motocross gear without caring the tiniest bit about motorcycling or 1990s motocross (Jeremy McWho?). Real poser stuff here. Poor Soichiro would probably be outraged to see his name emblazoned on a midriff-exposing crop top.

Another part of me thinks it’s great. Imagine some kid who comes from a tragically motorcycle-free background and sees these de rigueur clothes pop up in his/her Instagram feed. If they like the style, it’s not a stretch to imagine them becoming curious about the source.

Talk about ’90s nostalgia. Those red and yellow pants look a ton like my first pair of Answer dirt-bike pants from 1997. I wouldn’t be bold enough to wear them in public unless I was on a dirt bike.Forever 21

Step 1: Buy Forever 21 spandex onesie with “Honda” scrawled up and down the thighs. Step 2: Google “Honda motorcycle 1995.” Step 3: Ask parents for motorcycle. Step 4: Get massive chewing out from parents. Step 5: Get a job to save up for a dirt bike. Step 50: Race ’95 CR250 in vintage races.

I don’t care where someone’s journey to riding began or what sparked their imagination. If this makes motorcycling cool again, then great.

Maybe for every 100 kids repping F21’s McGrath style, there’ll be one who actually gets really into it and gets a bike. That’ll make eye rolling at the other 99 worth it.

Forever 21’s Honda collection also includes women’s clothes, but the PR folks sent me only images of the men’s collection. Did they assume only men read motorcycle publications? They must not have heard: 20 percent of riders are women. For the record, I asked for photos of the women’s line several times but no one got back to me.Forever 21

What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Comment below.