Shaun White’s clothing line plays it tough

SHAUN WHITE is possibly the biggest action sports star in the land. The flame-haired athlete from Carlsbad has had quite a run since he won an Olympic gold medal for snowboarding in 2006, nabbing an ESPY award from ESPN earlier this month, appearing in a documentary about his life titled “Don’t Look Down,” designing outerwear for Burton and developing his own snowboarding video games.

Of course White, who at 21 is doing his best to shake off his “Flying Tomato” nickname, is as much a star on the vert ramp as he is on the mountain. So it’s only natural that he’d enter the streetwear market. The Shaun White for Target limited-edition collection lands in stores today, with graphic tees, skinny skater jeans and button-down shirts for young men and boys.

Unlike some of Target’s design collaborations, there’s nothing precious here -- these clothes are priced to be worn, torn and scraped on hard pavement. The young adult styles are simple -- a slim-cut black-and-brown striped polo ($16.99), long gray plaid shorts ($21.99), hoodies and tees with subtle graphics drawn by Shaun and his brother Jesse and inspired by street art. Boys’ styles are more fun, with camouflage shorts ($17.99), gray hoodies emblazoned with a sketch of a kid with a Mohawk ($17.99) and T-shirts with a googly-eyed blob on a skateboard ($9.99).

White’s favorite piece is a black-and-white plaid button-down ($12.99 boys, $24.99 young adults) with contrast front pockets that would look at home in any skate park in America. He’s also fond of the black skinny fit jeans ($29.99), having recently converted from a baggier silhouette. How tight are we talking? White doesn’t like his jeans to be “ridiculously tight, unless the occasion calls for it.”

So just what occasion would that be?

White quips, “What is today, Wednesday?”

erin.weinger@latimes.com