Avril sets t-shirt trend

A US elementary school is cashing in on a wardrobe decision by pop singer Avril Lavigne. She wears a Wilkesboro Elementary School T-shirt in the video for her song Sk8er Boi. The green-and-gold T-shirts hadn't been sold for at least four years, but with the Canadian singer giving them new currency, the school's Parent Teacher Organisation ordered 500.

Principal Mike Dancy said he learned from a Canadian writer that Lavigne probably found the shirt in a New York thrift store. The writer was doing a story on how the singer popularises almost everything she wears, he said.

About 300 of the shirts have been sold on eBay to buyers as far away as Sweden and Thailand, said Marcia Reynolds, the school's PTO president. "It's kind of exciting that people all over the world are seeing our school's name," Reynolds said. The shirts sell for USD 20 online or USD 10 at the school. The proceeds will be used to buy computers. "This is going to end up helping our students, and we're grateful for that," Dancy said.