People's Place and early lines (1970s–1983)
Hilfiger spent the summer of 1969 working in a clothing store on Cape Cod, and afterwards he decided to use his life savings of $150 to open a clothing store in 1971 as People's Place. The first store was located in downtown Elmira in what is now the site of First Arena and had a hair salon, a record shop, and rock concerts in the basement. To stock the store, Hilfiger and a friend drove to New York City to buy clothing such as bell-bottoms, peasant blouses, and leather jackets. Unsatisfied with this, he began sketching his own designs, and would later write that "designing made me happier than anything I'd ever done. I knew from that early work that designing would be my life."
The People's Place went bankrupt in 1977. Hilfiger enrolled in classes on commerce and the business side of the fashion industry. After then moving to New York City and working for several different labels, he set up a company called Tommy Hill in 1979. One of his first clients was Jordache Jeans, and as Hilfiger's company expanded beyond denim, he spent time in India, learning more about his trade: "I would sit in the factory with my pile of sketches and watch them being made, tweaking as I went. There's no better design school in the world." In 1981 he founded the company 20th Century Survival, and the following year he founded Click Point, which designed women's clothing.
Founding Tommy Hilfiger Inc. (1984–1990s)
In 1984, Hilfiger was approached by businessman Mohan Murjani, to pursue his goal of designing and heading a men's sportswear line. Murjani backed the necessary investment for Hilfiger to establish his own brand. Later Hilfiger oversaw the design of the Coca-Cola clothing line for Murjani.
"[Wanting to form my own eponymous line] came from a desire to create something that wasn't out there already. I was really in tune with the market—I knew what existed, and I wanted this to be different. Maybe it's the small-town boy in me, but I've always loved the prep school look, traditional Ivy League, and the clothes that sailors and jocks wear. I wanted to take these familiar old things and give them a more laid-back attitude, to make them modern and cool...[with Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1985], finally, I felt like I was doing work that felt natural, that felt good. The brand we were building felt so honest, so true to who I am, that it didn't feel like a struggle at all."
In 1985, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation with support from The Murjani Group. The new clothing line made its debut with a high-profile marketing campaign, for example setting up a large billboard in Times Square designed by George Lois. Hilfiger left Murjani International in 1989, with Silas Chou instead providing financial backing to the Hilfiger brand, and former executives of Ralph Lauren brought on board as executives of the newly formed company Tommy Hilfiger, Inc. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation went public in 1992, introducing Hilfiger's signature menswear collection. Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995.
Increased brand exposure (1990s–2004)
A professed lifelong fan of rock and roll, Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures. The clothes are also marketed in connection with the music industry, and as early as 1993 Hilfiger was an official sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour. Hilfiger has also sponsored several musical events, including Sheryl Crow's If It Makes You Happy tour in 1997, Britney Spears' 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour as main sponsor, and Lenny Kravitz's 1999 Freedom tour. By the mid-1990s, Hilfiger's style of clothing was popular with both the American "preppy" scene and as hip hop fashion. American R&B icon Aaliyah became the much-publicized spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1997.
Hilfiger had a cameo in the fashion spoof Zoolander in 2001, and from 2002 to 2006 Tommy Hilfiger Inc. owned the naming rights to the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre venue. Largely due to declining sales in the early 2000s, Hilfiger began reworking the brand, striving to retain the designer brand exclusivity of the Hilfiger label by signing a deal to distribute the best-selling Hilfiger lines at Macy's only.
The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation continued to work closely with musicians into the 2000s, focusing on fragrances as well as clothes. Sweetface Fashion
In 2005, a CBS reality show called The Cut tracked the progress of sixteen contestants as they competed for a design job with Tommy Hilfiger and their own fashion line under Hilfiger's label. The show progressed in a similar fashion to Donald Trump's The Apprentice. After a final competition that involved setting up the display window for Macy's Herald Square location in New York, Hilfiger chose Chris Cortez as the "next great American designer."
In December 2005, Tommy Hilfiger sold the clothing brand for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company.[5] The transaction was completed in May 2006.[6] In 2008 Hilfiger, Rives, and Bar Refaeli co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America. Based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by Hilfiger and designer George Lois, the program examined how pop culture has influenced American tastes and styles.
Recent years and memoir (2012–2016)
Hilfiger was instrumental in the creation of the Marc Anthony Collection in 2012, as Marc Anthony had never been interested in the fashion business until Hilfiger called him and convinced him a line was worthwhile. In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Global sales in retail for the brand in 2013 were US$6.4 billion, and $6.7 billion in 2014.
Hilfiger remains the company's principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process. In 2016, he collaborated with model Gigi Hadid on clothing designs launching the TommyXGigi clothing collection. On February 8, 2017, the brand will hold its ready-to-wear show in Los Angeles, in the first time the brand will not be part of New York Fashion Week.[7]
In January 2015, Hilfiger announced that he was working on his memoirs. The book was written chronologically over a year, with Hilfiger explaining "I was hesitant to write it, but thought I better do it now because someday I may forget." Co-writer Peter Knobler had full access to interview friends and family, with Hilfiger citing the candor of Diane von Furstenberg's memoirs as an inspiration. Calling the writing process "great therapy" and "interesting," Hilfiger asserted that he "wanted to give people a sneak peek of what goes on behind the curtain [of] how the fashion industry works."
