Justin Timberlake named most stylish man in America

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Grammy-winning pop singer Justin Timberlake has topped GQ magazine's list of the "10 most Stylish Men in America," and gives his banker stepfather the credit for his dress sense.

The men's magazine praised Timberlake, 28, for his impact on fashion, his willingness to take risks and "knack for targeting trends" including hats, three-piece suits, skinny ties and beards.

The timing of the award is good news for Timberlake. William Rast, the clothing line he and friend Trace Ayala launched in October 2006, is on the runway at this week's New York Fashion show for its second outing.

Timberlake said in the March issue of GQ that he got his sense of style from his stepfather, Paul Harless, a banker who laid out his suit for the next morning every night and went to work looking "like Richard Gere in (American) Gigolo."

As for his signature style of wearing a suit with sneakers, Timberlake said it was more a matter of practicality than design.

"I just put sneakers on because I couldn't dance in the shoes I had. I couldn't leap with just insoles and dress shoes. I would've hurt myself," said Timberlake, who rose to fame as a singer with the boy band 'N Sync and went solo in 2002.

Other honourees on the list of "Stylish Men" include music producer Mark Ronson, who took second place, and photographer Alex Lubomirski, who was third.

They were joined by rappers Kanye West and T.I., actor Jason Schwartzman and hotelier Andre Balazs.

(Writing by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy)