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"I took one look and was like: 'Oh, boy. Here we go again,' " Stock said.

The shorts bear more than a vague resemblance to Zubaz, the loose-fitting, zebra-print pants that grew into one of the most recognizable fashion motifs of the early 1990s. The go-to brand of the professional-wrestling set, Zubaz were bold and colorful, with their tapered inseam and elastic waistband. After starting the company in the storage closet of a Minneapolis health club, Stock and his business partner, Bob Truax, sold thousands of them.

Now, thanks to Adidas, Zubaz are enjoying something of a rebirth. Like mildew, ragweed and Rubik's Cube, Zubaz refuse to die.

"I love it," Truax said in a telephone interview. "I know this is getting a lot of negative press, all these people saying, 'Ah, these look stupid!' But from what I've heard — and this is the key — the kids like it. It's supposed to be fun."

To be clear, there is no actual relationship between Zubaz and Adidas. Stock and Truax, who relaunched the Zubaz brand in 2008 after a 12-year hiatus, trademarked their particular stripe pattern, and any design that replicates theirs by more than 70 percent would be in violation of those rights. The Adidas design is distinct — its new Adizero shorts feature more of a zigzag pattern — but Stock and Truax said they were enjoying the publicity, especially as they try to rebuild their brand.

"It's all supposed to be taken with a wink and a smile," Stock said in describing the Zubaz ethos.

That was not always the case. Originally, the pants had an actual purpose, aside from embarrassing spouses. As co-owners at the Twin Cities Gym in the mid-1980s, Stock and Truax heard a common complaint among their powerlifting friends: they could never find pants that fit. Stock and Truax began experimenting with different cuts until they found a design that worked, and presto, Zubaz.

The pants were born of humble stock — Stock said they initially outsourced the assembly to a women's correctional facility — but the Zubaz partners were committed to the company's success. For six consecutive years, whenever Truax had a business meeting, he wore a pair of Zubaz. The location made no difference, he said. A bank? A fancy restaurant? N.F.L. headquarters? Truax went straight for his drawer full of Zubaz.

"That was the gig," he said. "And it worked."

When Minneapolis hosted Super Bowl XXVI in 1992, the Zubaz brand had reached its zenith. It made for a magical convergence of pop-culture starpower and animal-print poly blends. Truax said a cavalcade of athletes and celebrities showed up at the company's headquarters not far from the Metrodome to mingle and stock up on gear before the big game: Patrick Ewing, Jason Priestley, John Madden.

"Madden used to come out quite a bit, actually," Truax said. "It was very, very common on a year-round basis for people to stop by and get some product. We would have country singers' buses pulling up outside. But during the Super Bowl, it was everybody."

At its peak, Truax said, the company grossed more than $40 million in annual sales. Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino became a partner and pitchman, his Zubaz plastered on billboards across Florida. Stock and Truax even enlisted the services of the supermodel Claudia Schiffer, who posed in a pair of snakeskin-print Zubaz — and little else. Stock, who was a bachelor at the time, attended the photo shoot. Truax, who was married, did not.

Like any great empire, however, the Zubaz brand was vulnerable. By 1995, with the company buffeted by rising costs, Truax and Stock decided to sell their remaining stake. One year later, Zubaz went bankrupt. It signaled a global downturn in the production of zebra-print fabrics, which was cause for despair or celebration, depending on your point of view.

The two friends went in different directions — Truax worked for a clothing retailer, Stock opened a health club — but the lure of Zubaz was strong. In 2007, Truax began to see teenagers wearing vintage Zubaz and wondered whether there was a new market. He called his old partner.

The relaunch was almost entirely Web-based, at Zubaz.com. In the first six weeks, Truax said, the company sold about $200,000 worth of merchandise. Rather than spend a fortune on advertising, he and Stock relied on word of mouth, nostalgia and frat-house theme parties. To Truax, it proved the power of the Zubaz brand in the cutthroat world of patterned trousers. He drew a comparison.

"It's almost like Kleenex," he said. "Every tissue you pick up is a Kleenex, and every pair of print pants is a Zubaz. And that's a wonderful thing for us."

Stock claims to have an expert eye about these things. "I can look at a thousand different zebra products and know if it's our print," he said.

The N.F.L.'s Gronkowski brothers — Rob, Dan and Chris — are such huge Zubaz fans that they hawk Zubaz gear on their Web site, GronkNation.com. An advertisement urges fans to "show your support for a Gronk" by ordering the same style of Zubaz that the brothers have proudly displayed "on the beach, in the weight room, on the golf course and anytime they want to Get Hyped!"

Stock said: "They're some of the best promoters anybody could have. They do a lot of charity work and a lot of partying and a lot of everything."

Truax and Stock appear to have big plans. Truax said he had spent much of the last month on the road meeting with retailers, though he is a bit more discreet in his choice of apparel these days. He typically leaves his Zubaz behind.

"I still wear them around the house a little bit," he said, "but not too much, not at my age."