Tommy Hilfiger: “A lot of our clients are going to live in the metaverse. In fact, they already do.”

A framed poster hangs in the hall of its headquarters on Madison Avenue, New York. “The four great American designers”, reads the title, to then write only the initials and let the viewer guess who they are: Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein and, obviously, Tommy Hilfiger. It was 1985 and no one knew the New York designer, who had just founded his eponymous brand with the help of Indian businessman Mohan Murjani. That campaign, exhibited in kiosks and telephone booths in the Big Apple, ensured that, in a matter of months, the designer was on everyone’s lips. Who the hell is Tommy Hilfiger? “Before creating the brand, I had a store called People’s Place that mixed affordable fashion with music. I called it that because I’ve always thought that fashion is for real people, that’s why I try to make my actions,

That store, which he founded with $150 at the time and a handful of second-hand clothes, and which had a hair salon and a concert hall in the basement, ended up going bankrupt in 1977. Over the next seven years, Tommy Hilfiger designed for others, he studied Business and temporarily moved to India to learn first-hand how the business of manufacturing and exporting denim garments worked. When he met Murjani, the owner of the Gloria Vanderbilt product lines, it was clear to him that he wanted to make “a brand for everyone, that responds to people’s needs.”

40 years have passed since then and Hilfiger, now 71, is about to present a fashion show at a drive-in theater in Greenpoint (Brooklyn) that mixes physical garments with digital ones; what you see on the catwalk can be bought to dress up avatars on Roblox, one of the main platforms in the metaverse. “It’s the future or, rather, the present”, he says without hesitation, “many of our clients are going to live in the metaverse. Some already do, in fact. This has just started and it’s going to get bigger and bigger, so we have to be among the first”, he adds.

According to Morgan Stanley, by 2030 virtual fashion is expected to generate more than 50,000 million euros in turnover, which is why this year almost all firms have invested in plots in simulated reality worlds such as Roblox or Decentraland. Hilfiger’s first foray was in 2021, when he launched his collections of skins (that’s what they call avatar clothes) and later Tommy Play, an interactive game based on his universe. Before, in 2020, the year we live through a screen, he had already created Team Tommy, an initiative that supports the talent and visibility of gamers. “As a company, we have been studying young people for some time, we ourselves have immersed ourselves in digital, first in video games, then in NFTs [assets that cannot be modified and are stored digitally] and now in the metaverse. Part of our community is there already,” he explains.

A model wears a Fall 2022 creation from Tommy Factory New York.

A model wears a Fall 2022 creation from Tommy Factory New York. Thomas Concord (Getty Images)

The designer is obsessed with being connected to the needs and dynamics of the present, and yet for many Tommy Hilfiger is synonymous with preppy, the aesthetic that is traditionally associated with white and privileged North Americans (and that in Spain, saving many distances, it would have to do with the posh). Growing up middle-class in a small province of upstate New York, himself, he was soon drawn to striped polo shirts, chinos, baseball jackets and loafers. When he was a teenager, he worked as a clerk in a clothing store on Cape Cod, a favorite vacation spot for America’s privileged classes. But, as he himself says, “that style can become subversive.” Of course.

While in the eighties Ralph Lauren triumphed by cashing in on the wishes of those who wanted to belong to an Ivy League brotherhood, even if it was only in appearance, Hilfiger, well into the decade, played to mix this idea with cultural references that had little to do with that world. And along the way, he brought some of the executives who worked for Lauren into his company: in 1997 he became, for example, a tour sponsor for The Who singer Roger Daltrey; from that of Lenny Kravitz, Sheryl Crow, Jennifer Lopez or Britney Spears (who had just released Baby One More Time), and chose the ill-fated R&B singer Aaliyah as ambassador. Dressing this type of character, already eclectic in itself, with an aesthetic so far removed from their lifestyle, was an effective way of breaking down prejudices and, of course, to attract attention: “I have always opted for diversity. I have done it since I started, with the models, with the campaigns and with the teams”, she underlines. “It is now when it is talked about and when the industry is finally realizing that it has to be at the service of the people, but it is true that it has taken a long time to do so”.

Design for the latest Tommy Hilfiger collection, presented at a drive-in theater in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Design for the latest Tommy Hilfiger collection, presented at a drive-in theater in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

In fact, the key to Tommy Hilfiger’s long-standing success may be that it is not considered a fashion brand in the strict sense: it is not interested in elitist catwalks (its presentations, in different cities around the world, are more like a massive and interactive show ); he is not interested in the inbreeding typical of this system, through which the same prescribers always circulate (in his portfolio of ambassadors there are world stars such as Zendaya or Lewis Hamilton, but also semi-unknown figures such as Big Zuu or Mr. Brainwash), and what Perhaps more importantly, you are not interested in associating yourself with a specific audience; the more the better. “I don’t think fashion is an end in itself,” he explains. “For me it’s a tool for expressing culture, whether it’s music, Hollywood stars, art, sports… Connecting fashion with entertainment is what has allowed me to evolve and continue here”. Something he learned from the great reference and friend of his Andy Warhol, to whom he has dedicated this latest collection, entitled, of course, Tommy Factory.

They met just when he founded his brand, in 1985, through his investor, Mohan Murjani. “At that time he had just discovered Stephen Sprouse, who wanted to do a clothing collection. He was interested in everything that had to do with culture, he was a magnet for attracting people from the cinema, music, art, and putting them to work together; that was pop culture and that was what inspired me, that’s why my brand is pop, because I’ve always wanted to connect it with art, music, sports, Hollywood… ”, he explains. Hilfiger, who today (and for a couple of decades) wears a pristine suit jacket, lived the eighties of New Yorkers intensely. That is why in his work there are constant references to Basquiat, Keith Haring or the CBGB. However, he does not feel homesick. “It would be very boring,” he says. For him, pop is bringing together in the same show Bob Colacello, the legendary editor of Warhol’s Interview magazine, or Lady Bunny, historical drag scene, with the faces that exemplify today’s celebrity (Gigi Hadid, Travis Barker) and others more unknown , from tattoo artists to street artists. “I don’t believe in the traditional catwalk anymore,” he says, “I would rather do nothing than do the things I did in the past, because after the pandemic they are no longer relevant.”

The truth is that, when things have gone wrong for Tommy, he has not had any qualms about rebuilding himself with typically Warholian ideas, which are not usually well regarded in this industry, but which have worked well for him: when, with the entry of the new century, sales declined, signed an exclusive contract with Macy’s, America’s middle-class department store. Later, he participated in television reality shows, and even had his own show, Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America. When his fame became massive, he sold the company in 2010 to the German investor PVH, also owner of Calvin Klein, for 30,000 million euros. Since then, the brand has generated, according to company data, a growth between 15% and 30% per year. He follows behind the entire process, making the decisions, sometimes risky.

Six years ago he decided to be the first designer to implement the see now buy now system in his fashion shows, that is, to put the clothes on sale immediately after seeing them on the catwalk (the usual waiting time is six months). “It was something that few understood at first, but they soon saw the success of the strategy,” he concedes. Nor do they now understand why two years ago it became the first major brand to design adaptive clothing for people with disabilities. Three of his seven children are autistic: “That’s why the idea came to me. And no, no one understood. I started making children’s clothing easy to put on and take off, now we have expanded to adult because the demand has grown a lot, but nobody saw it coming.

Hilfiger, in his office in Manhattan.

Hilfiger, in his office in Manhattan. 

In 2016, Hilfiger published a memoir that made it to The New York Times bestseller list. Entitled American Dreamer, they presented the designer as yet another great example of the hackneyed American dream, a speech that, on the other hand, fits perfectly with that preppy and typically American aesthetic that he has always displayed. However, his trajectory does have a lot of ingenuity and even some heroism. Many may not know it, but there is nothing in the current fashion discourse that Tommy Hilfiger hasn’t already done. racial diversity? Two programs supporting designers belonging to racial minorities and a podcast about forgotten African-American designers. Sustainability? Two other circularity and water saving projects, and the mission to be completely clean by 2030. Equal opportunities? A program for four years that finances social entrepreneurs and a firm commitment to emerging design, both in terms of resources and visibility. For example, Richard Quinn, the 31-year-old British man whose dramatic fashion full of prints captivated Elizabeth II in 2018 and who now signs part of the new Hilfiger collection. “He wore our clothes at school and I am fascinated by the imagery of him. I know we have nothing to do, that was the key. To collaborate with him was to see how two opposite universes collided. And that amused me.” Because if Tommy Hilfiger does something with fashion, 40 years later, it is to have fun: “If he didn’t do it, nothing would make sense”. both in resources and in visibility. For example, Richard Quinn, the 31-year-old British man whose dramatic fashion full of prints captivated Elizabeth II in 2018 and who now signs part of the new Hilfiger collection. “He wore our clothes at school and I am fascinated by the imagery of him. I know we have nothing to do, that was the key. To collaborate with him was to see how two opposite universes collided. And that amused me.” Because if Tommy Hilfiger does something with fashion, 40 years later, it is to have fun: “If he didn’t do it, nothing would make sense”. both in resources and in visibility. For example, Richard Quinn, the 31-year-old British man whose dramatic fashion full of prints captivated Elizabeth II in 2018 and who now signs part of the new Hilfiger collection. “He wore our clothes at school and I am fascinated by the imagery of him. I know we have nothing to do, that was the key. To collaborate with him was to see how two opposite universes collided. And that amused me.” Because if Tommy Hilfiger does something with fashion, 40 years later, it is to have fun: “If he didn’t do it, nothing would make sense”. that was the key. To collaborate with him was to see how two opposite universes collided. And that amused me.” Because if Tommy Hilfiger does something with fashion, 40 years later, it is to have fun: “If he didn’t do it, nothing would make sense”. that was the key. To collaborate with him was to see how two opposite universes collided. And that amused me.” Because if Tommy Hilfiger does something with fashion, 40 years later, it is to have fun: “If he didn’t do it, nothing would make sense”.

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