On a campus where students may get lost in a sea of black hooded sweatshirts and converse, splashes of color have been popping up, in the form of pink.

Thanks to trendsetters such as Ashton Kutcher and Pharrell Williams the cotton candy color is no longer simply for women and newborn babies. Heterosexual men are now beginning to think pink.

"It (wearing pink) proves and shows to girls that 'hey guys can wear pink too' and it still looks good," said George Kliengklom, 19. "It looks more mature. I like to stand out in the crowd; that's why I wear pink or red."

Kliengklom, a sophomore majoring in apparel and fashion merchandising, started to wear pink last year. Instead of baring a whole pink-covered chest or back to the world, Kliengklom prefers a more subtle approach.

"When you wear the pink, you don't want to just show it off completely. You just want to wear under a jacket or something, so it's like a touch of pink right here and maybe a touch of pink on the shoes," said Kliengklom.

The color is usually associated with womanhood, according to the website BrainyEncyclopedia. Sarah Jessica Parker’s “Sex and the City” character Carrie Bradshaw and Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde," draped themselves in peachy color. The feminine image and what people may think of him as a man wearing pink do not matter to Kliengklom.

"If somebody wanted to say something bad, they kept it to themselves. They didn't say it to me because I guess I wear it cool," said Kliengklom.

John McBride, 25, wears a white-colored shirt painted with little faded red leaves. From a distance, the shirt looks light pink. He calls it pink and likes wearing it. He also just bought a pink and blue wallet.

“There is nothing to be afraid of wearing pink because I am confident in who I am,” said McBride, who majors in geography. “However, other people may make a judgment about men wearing pink. Men need to get over the social baggage that associated with wearing pink.”

Express Men, a men's clothing store in the Stonestown Galleria, started to order pink clothing this year and sold about 30 pieces per day for men this spring and summer, according to the store manager Dolce Delacruz. He was skeptical about selling pink at first, but it turned out successful.

"Pink is the color that can make you look sophisticated, classic, and urban stature," said Michael Raza, 34, who has worked for the store for last two years. "Pink is the new black."

Dustin Dockery, a 23-year-old majoring in liberal studies, is planning to buy a pink polo shirt but is not for pink all the time.

"Most of the time, I don't think it (wearing pink) is okay. It doesn't matter when someone wears pink,” said Dockery. “If a guy came and was wearing a pink pair of swat pants, it’s not okay. I would never consider like a pink pair of socks."

Some female students at SF State do not think it is a problem for men wearing pink, but others believe it depends the man’s physical appearance.

Karen Gascon, a senior majoring in dietetics, thinks there is nothing wrong with men in pink and thinks they are brave.

“It is attractive,” said Gascon. “It would be interesting to see macho guys (wearing pink) having a feminine side.”

Summer Chaldu, 22, thinks pink clothes would look good on certain men with confidence.

“I think it still looks good on the hot model guy,” said Summer Chaldu, a 22-year-old liberal studies major. “Jerry Seinfeld wears pink shirts in Seinfeld and it looks good.”