June 8, 2011 |
FROM THE VOLT (WINTER 2010)
Saturday September 12, 2010
“Excuse me just one second,” says Tommy Hilfiger, “I’ve gotta take a look at this.” Then Hilfiger and his magnificent fringe swivel 180 degrees, swapping focus from this 10 correspondent to a model waiting 20 metres or so away on the other side of the room. It’s the eve of Hilfiger’s SS/11 at New York Fashion Week and we’re sitting on a cream leatherette sofa in his sprawling creative HQ on West 26th and 11th. The collection is pretty much done. All the looks are organised, labelled and hung on the racks. They’ve all been shot, the shots have been annotated then put in order and stuck to the wall. The creative team is behaving only barely as frantically as a fashion creative team probably thinks it should behave on the eve of a massive show. Everything feels complete. Except for this one final edit.
“Come a bit closer, please,” says Hilfiger to the model, who does. She’s in a knee-lenght -pleated white skirt – think 1920’s tennis flapper – that’s been oomphed up a little by a thigh-high slit that splits when she walks, worn below a scoop-necked cricket jumper and a light green shirt. Very preppy and very straight, but with the slightest promise of provocation to zhooosh it up.
The team, headed by consultant designer Peter Som, falls silent as the Hilfiger eye north-then-souths her. He pauses, then: “I like it.” They Relax. “ But I don’t like that blouse. ” They unrelax: “Do you know why? It’s the colour. It’s lime, but it isn’t a limey lime. What is an option? May I have a look at an option please?”
The team scatter for an option, back at work now, and HIlfiger swivels 180 degrees once more. “Sorry about that,” he says: “but details like this are important.” Especially now. For this collection will mark Hilfiger’s 25th year anniversary as a label. Although he first started selling clothes in the late 1960’s when he opened a shop named People’s Place, in a rented basement , then continued to under labels like Tommy Hills in the 1970’s, it was in 1985 that Hilfiger jimmied his way into the New York fashion scene limelight courtesy of unflinching self-belief, a loaded backer, and a brilliant marketing man – who convinced Hilfiger to buy ad space in Time Square and filling it with Lbillboard declaring the unknown a menswear match for Calvin Klein, Perry Ellis, and even Lord Ralph himself…
The New York fash press went apeshit, apoplectic at this jumped-up wannabe baptising himself as a sartorial messiah and entirely cutting them out of the process. But the press proved toothless, and in the 1990’s Hilfiger was embraced by hip hop culture after Snoop wore a Tommy tee on Saturday Night Live. That helped Hilfiger growth-spurt into one of the worlds largest fashion companies, with sales only just shy of $2 billion. But when hip hop moved on – to Fubu, apparently, and other cynical product like that – Hilfiger faced a crises.
Department store sales plummeted by 75 per cent, his shareprice epically tumbled and at the lowest of all points, apparently, Hilfiger was even contemplating allowing Wal-Mart access to the brand. So thank God for Europe. Because over here, while Hilfiger’s oversized, hip-hop pitched gear was languishing unloved at home, his Euro-licensees – based out of a studio in Amsterdam – were belting out nerdy-preppy fare that sold unstoppably. This gave Hilfiger access to financial backing and a creative route to salvation.
Not long ago, that route paid off when Tommy Hilgiger was bought by Philips-Van Heusen for a cool $3 billion. Hilfiger, who remains principle designer and “visionary” (great job title) is sitting pretty once more. He even lives at the Plaza. This time round, though, he’s determined not to allow himself ever again to fall victim to fashion’s shifting agenda. He knows too much now to let that happen.
Now he has the satisfaction of seeing his brand’s affordable, mid-market luxe being hailed as a robust business proposition in these recessionary times. His new Royal Tenenbaumsy “meet the Hilfigers” campaign is a perfect expression of the brand. And tomorrow New York will gather to salute his reincarnation. Before that, though, Mr Hilfiger wants to share a few of his hardest learned lessons with 10.
WHEN YOU’RE STARTING OUT IN THE BUSINESS, FOCUS ON PRODUCT FIRST. BRANDING COMES LATER.
“I wanted to make a collection I would want to wear, and I thought I would offer it to people who would want to wear what I want to wear too. And I found that that audience was rather large. So I decided to then expand upon it and add other products, from just casual to a little bit more formal, neck ties, shirts, watches, socks, shoes, and I began to build a lifestyle around my small brand, and then I decided to add womens and children’s and other pieces to it to complete the circle of the lifestyle brand.”
AMERICAN STYLE IS A KILLER RIFF
“At first Tommy was just an American brand. I didn’t know if it would work anywhere else. .I thought maybe the English were true to the English brand and the French to their own brands too. But I took it global 15 years ago, and it caught on very well. So I decided to expand in other countries and offer my interpretation of the iconic American look. I found that people, young people in particular, wanting to experiment with new brands and brands that had a different heritage – a different pedigree – and mine had a very casual, relaxed, fun heritage. ”
GREAT MARKETING CAN MAKE YOU
The billboard? a man called George Lois came up with an idea. He said we need some powerful advertising, so I said we should do something with a model on a beach, something romantic, but they said the problem is everyone does that, and it’ll take you years to get your name across. So I said ok, how do you do it? And he came up with the idea for the billboard with my name next to these other designers. And he said people will fill in the blanks and remember the name. So we did it, and he was right: in no time everyone knew the name. All I had to do then was live up to it.“
BAD PRESS DOESN’T HAVE TO BREAK YOU
The press hated that billboard. The accused me of being a sham, they said there’s no way I will compete with these people (Calvin, Ralph and Perry Ellis), they said he doesn’t even have a runway collection, he never went to design school, who does he think he is?
IT’S THE KIDS WHO COUNT
"A lot of the street kids started wearing my clothes. They had never really worn designer clothes before, just Adidas of Nike or athletic wear. And then when my brand came out they liked the flavours and the colours, and they started wearing it. They wore everything way way way way too big – and that started a trend.”
TRENDS? THEY’RE A MYSTERY
I have no idea if there was some logic behind it (the urban youth’s championing of HILFIGER) – all i know is that my business started becoming really very big – with everyone. the kids were bold, they loved wearing the logos.
WHILE THEY LAST, THEY’RE GREAT
“I followed that trend, and played to it. I was taken by it – and instead of sticking with what i believed in, what my heritage had taught me, I chased it. ”
BUT WHEN THEY DIE, YOUR BRAND MIGHT TOO
“Trends end – they always end. And when that one dropped off, so did my business. So I learned a tremendous lesson, which was stay true to yourself. If it just so happens that you catch a trend – then great. But don’t let it change your direction. Continue on your road, and follow your dreams and your heart.”
EUROPE KEPT THE BRAND ALIVE
“Fortunately we weren’t chasing trends in europe. there, the business continued to grow and grow, slow and steady. Thanks to the success of that we had a ready made template for how to resurrect the business in the US and get back on track.”
MUSIC AND FASHION ARE SYMBIOTIC
Originally I wanted to be a rock star, but instead I went into selling clothes to people who loved music. I wanted to build my business around that love, and it morphed into a hippy mod boutique business, because that was the music of the time. But that was a passing trend too, and one which that time I evolved out of before it evolved out of me. I saw that one coming, because I stayed true to my personal taste. Anyway, I was no longer wanting to sell bell bottoms and have long hair. It was the beginning of the disco era. It was something new. And when the music changed, the fashion changed with it.“
WARHOL INSTINCTIVELY GOT THE ESSENCE OF FASHION. IT’S ABOUT EVERYTHING, NOT ONLY CLOTHES.
"So I opened a store called Twentieth Century Survival, I created a new lines including Tommy Hill, which was one of the collections. Andy Warhol was on the scent in New York at that time. And that inspired me to love pop culture. Andy brought fashion, art, music and entertainment all together. I looked up to Andy as a mentor and I thought all of that… that’s what i want in my brand.”
FASHION HAS BECOME MUCH MORE DIVERSIFIED
“Everybody is different these days. All the kids have their own takes. In 1969 everyone had long hair and bell bottoms, now there are so many people who are creating individual looks. Some people mix Gucci with vintage, some wear H&M with something from their mother’s closet – there are so many different ways to put oneself together today, so many formulas. The only think i think we all do is wear jeans. Other than that, everyone has a different look.”
YOU’VE GOT TO BE YOURSELF. THESE DAYS HILFIGER WEARS THAT FRINGE IN IT’S NATURAL SHADE.
“It is what it is!”
*SHOWS ARE ALWAYS EXCITING, HOWEVER MANY YOU DO.
“We are gonna open the show preppy, it will be American style with a twist. A lot of red white a blue, with touches of yellow to make it look more nautical and summeryl. The more country club pinks, and light blues – a kind of twisted country club – and then we’ll end the show more glamorously.”
Sunday September 13, 2010
In the end, Hilfiger didn’t opt for the green, not even in limey lime. He reverted to his beloved red white and blue – the signifiers of both the US flag and the Hilfiger logo – and that thigh-flashing tennis/cricket look was just the ticket when it hit the runway. J-Lo, Christina Henricks and most of the New York fashion industry which 25 years ago marvelled at the chutzpah of this man who came seemingly from nowhere to rank himself alongside Klein, Lauren and Ellis applauded this classically Hilfiger, brilliantly soundtracked show. Afterwards everyone rolled next door to the Met, drank, and watched The Strokes play a set. Hilfiger watched too and then, pretty much as soon as they had finished, headed home to the Plaza.
by Luke Leitch
