Keep Your Cool

Hey! Did ya just hear that kaboom? That was, like, the explosionof the fashion and beauty market for teens. All these geezerdesigners--they're, like, 25 or 30!--are coming out with theseway-cool products just for us: hair stuff, makeup, handbags,accessories, clothes . . . and, hey, we've got mucho dinerofrom our part-time jobs-and, like, maybe a little help from theparental plastic. Let's go shopping!

Thankfully, you don't have to talk like teens to sell tothem. Nevertheless, a growing number of Gen X entrepreneurs aregetting in touch with their inner teen and communicating with thejunior market using the sweet language of commerce. And there are awhole lot of kids listening: By 2010, the number of teens in theUnited States alone will swell to 35 million, more than at anyother time in history, according to Teen.com, a Web site cateringto the interests of 42,000 young surfers each day. A Rand Youthpoll estimated that teen girls spend $21.8 billion a year onclothes and beauty accessories. The children of the boomers aregrowing up, and they have been well-schooled in the joys ofconsumerism.