Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger
Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfigeris an American fashion designer best known for founding the lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1985. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of clothing and record stores in upstate New York in the 1970s, he began designing preppy sportswear for his own eponymous menswear line in the 1980s. The company later expanded into women's clothing and various luxury items such as perfumes, and went public in 1992. In 1997, Hilfiger published his first book,...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFashion Designer
Date of Birth24 March 1951
CityElmira, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I think it's dangerous to think that you're successful, because then you become complacent.
I looked at my competitors and I thought that, If they could do it, I could do it. And if, they are popular and doing well, I could compete with them.
In designing a lifestyle brand, you have to know more than just designing clothes.
Consumers around the world always want something unexpected and exciting, and that's what drives me. I love the challenge of reinterpreting my designs in new ways each season to keep the "prep look" modern and fresh.
The preppy look has gone global- every corner of the world interprets it in a different way.
I think it is really important to have a sense of business. As a designer you can get so wrapped up in the design and fashion side that you forget the business side.
Our look and image never change dramatically from one season to the next, so we need an edge.
These are optimistic pieces, travel pieces that go anywhere
I thought, if I went into business I'd be able to control my own destiny.
Algebra looked like Chinese characters to me, and I could never get into reading Shakespeare. I just did not get it.
I currently live in the Plaza in New York and I love it - all that history, all those interesting stories.
I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to build some kind of lifestyle brand that was preppy and cool.
If it weren't for rock'n'roll, I wouldn't be a designer
I saw my future. I pictured it, but didn't quite know how to get there. But I knew that I should never give up.