It's been twenty years, but David Beckham still hasn't lived down the memory of that sarong, but the menswear icon has come up with an excuse: he was well ahead of his time, as fashion is much more fluid these days.
The 42-year-old - who is launching his fourth collection with co-owned British Heritage label Kent & Curwen - said the "outrage" and "shock" he received over the outfit wouldn't be the same response in 2018.
"Twenty years ago when I wore that sarong, people were shocked," he told The Telegraph.
"It was an outrage; 'why are you wearing that? What were you thinking?' Today no-one bats an eyelid if a guy wears a sarong in the street."
The star was ridiculed by the press after he stepped out in the patterned sarong over a pair of trousers with then-fiancee Victoria Beckham during the 1998 World Cup in France. And lest we forget the brown sandals too...
But he's has since braved that and some other questionable fashion moments to become one of the most influential figures in men's style.
And when he was ribbed by chat show host James Corden last year about some of his fashion faux pas incidents - including his and Victoria's very purple wedding day - he admitted he had no regrets.
"They were right at the time," he insisted on Corden's Late Late Show. "The leather outfits, actually it could have been a lot worse that evening because we were walking out the door and I was like, 'why don't we arrive on a motorbike?'
"Which obviously back then felt like a good idea, but now talking about it would have been absolutely ridiculous. I'm not saying I regret them because at the time they felt right but now I'm not so sure. To be fair it was 1999."
Meanwhile, Becks also revealed that his sons - Brooklyn, 18, Romeo, 15, and Cruz, 12 - give their fashion input into his range.
"I have a 12 year old, a 15 year old and an 18 year old, and they’re a good barometer as to how the clothes are; I get reactions from them about what we’re doing," he said.
"They’ve all got their own unique style - kids today just do - and they have their own characters.
"They know themselves, which is great to see."
