But perhaps the most telling sign his popularity has transcended genre is that Justin Timberlake sends him samples from his William Rast designer jeans line.

"He actually called me to thank me for wearing them the other day, which was crazy," says the 36-year-old musician.

It's about the image, and it's about the lifestyle and what I want to sing about. It's not like someone's going to mistake me when they turn on "Conan O'Brien" tonight, you know what I mean? It's not like, "Wonder what kind of music he sings." Instantly, when you turn it on, you know.

Unlike denim competitors who have raised their retail flags on high-profile streets such as Robertson Boulevard and Melrose Place in Los Angeles, William Rast opted for shopping malls. Dyne said he will step outside of the mall in cities such as New York, where the company is considering a spot in SoHo near the J. Lindeberg store on Spring Street.

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Working with the Los Angeles-based architecture firm Johnston Marklee, William Rast transported the rugged Americana found in Timberlake and Ayala's home state of Tennessee to Tinseltown for an aesthetic dubbed New America. In the 1,850-square-foot store in Century City, the design offsets matte black shelves filled with jeans retailing for $165 to $245 with wide planks of plywood, which were seamed together to create high tables and an angular arch stretching above shoppers' heads. Vintage dress forms show off the $350 men's houndstooth blazer, $229 women's jean jacket and $250 vest dotted with grommets.

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Booming through the stereo speakers is a mix of rock and blues tunes that Timberlake compiled for the soundtracks played during the brand's fashion shows. In addition, Timberlake can be seen taking a bow at the end of the fall 2009 runway show playing on a TV screen in the store. Other than that, there's no visible sign of Timberlake in the store. It's a deliberate move to distance William Rast from the cult of personality that often swarms -- and sometimes detracts from -- a celebrity brand. "We've always made sure that it's about the product first," Dyne said. "We use Justin in the right ways. He was in our first ad campaign and he’ll be in our next ad campaign."

So what smells good to the sexy star? "The greatest scents in the world are pheromones," he confides. "Just the actual smell of a person’s skin." But that doesn't mean that he hasn't worn his own fair share of fragrances. "I was 13 or something. I thought [Polo fragrance] was cool. I remember when [ck One] was, like, a big deal.

Everybody from my school smelled exactly the same." No more generic scents for Timberlake, though. Although the Givenchy's scents don’t bear JT's name, he admits to having a hand in creating the scent. "I think the way we did [it] was kind of cool," he says, "because [I got ] to pick notes. I'm not a scientist, I won't be in there doing the chemistry or mixing the chemicals, [but] I really enjoyed the process of working with Givenchy and getting involved in the actual fragrance. It means more to you. It feels more personal. I actually wear it," he says.

Originally called Woodstock Hills, the golf course is older and was actually the first place golf-enthusiast Timberlake learned to hit a golf ball.

"...Last year we found out they were going to auction it off and turn it into a development," Timberlake told PGATour.com. "So we thought it was such a landmark for the community, we'd scoop it and save it. And we did. We were able to before it was auctioned off."

Renamed Mirimichi Golf Course, Timberlake's newest venture is the first project in the U.S. to receive the Audubon International's Classic Sanctuary certification.

Justin Timberlake wants to write a book about golf! Sources say lit agent David Vigliano-who has recently repped books by celebrities like Shannon Doherty and Clay Aiken—sent editors a short proposal by the singer last month. Mr. Timberlake has been a golf fanatic for years, getting his first taste of the game as a boy and later playing it with a group of roadies during the last *NSYNC tour. Today, he regularly competes in charity tournaments, and even owns an environmentally friendly golf course in his hometown of Millington, Tennessee.

"'The Phone' is a high-intensity game show where we take four real-life people, not actors, we take four real-life people, and we thrust them into physical and mental nightmare," Timberlake said. "And you get to watch what happens. There's a chance every show to win 50 grand."

The show features people answering a phone call and then having to go through intense missions to win the game and the money. "We plot each show around a movie plot," Timberlake added. "And they become the main character in this movie."

All the while, there's chatter about fedoras and three-piece suits and his clothing line William Rast-and why we included Timberlake on our list in the first place: not because of some effortless way he dresses or comports himself but because of the way he works at his style. Timberlake has a knack for targeting trends just before they crest. He might not spark them, but he's the guy who broadcasts them-whom we point to for making, say, hats popular again, or for making suits look like they were meant to be worn with sneakers, or for wearing a beard that's not quite a beard per se but is pretty much what every guy at the club wears these days.

His impact is undeniable, as is his willingness to take risks. He's the guy who rocks the sweater vest off the course ("definitely-but not argyle; a solid-color one, usually with a T-shirt underneath"); the tie with a leather jacket ("but a really good leather jacket—really sleek and clean looking").

1. Justin Timberlake, actor
2. Mark Ronson, DJ
3. Alexi Lubomirski, photographer
4. Andre Balazs, hotelier, scene Magnet
5. Kanye West, hip-hop musician
6. Sid Mashburn, haberdasher
7. T.I., MC
8. Glenn O'Brien, GQ's style guy
9. Jason Schwartzman, actor
10. Ed Ruscha, artist