Indeed, it would be a crime not to accentuate Flag with the company’s trademark colours, albeit it mixed in with the opulent sheepskin chairs and leather couches. Its very essence is, after all, in the image of the sea, with the nautical logo, created in 1976, purposed to look like a flag, and a tribute to the founder’s love of the sea.
After a quiet start in New York’s backstreets, Hilfiger’s brand was one that truly accelerated in the mid-eighties. The impeccable timing in reading trends and courting the popularity of high-profile models – not least the likes of Gigi Hadid, Beyonce, Rafael Nadal, Hailey Bieber and others – has led its visionary to extreme riches; at the last count his personal worth is thought to exceed half a billion pounds.
Yet Tommy Hilfiger B.V., the official commercial entity from where all the designer’s immaculate looks emanate, very nearly never came about at all.
“I never went to any design school,” he reveals. “I just started sketching my own concepts, bought the fabric I wanted, and used local seamstresses to produce the clothes that I started selling in stores, originally in my hometown of Elmira, New York and at various local college campuses. Then the initial expansion occurred.
“But my partners and I were spending a lot of time partying at places like Studio 54 instead of looking after our stores. I over-expanded and then had to file for bankruptcy at the tender age of 23. That taught me you have to focus just as much on the business side as on the creative aspect if you want to be successful.”
Undeterred by this early brush with financial demise, Hilfiger set about building a fashion portfolio motivated by the vibrant world of pop culture and Americana he found himself surrounded by. And yet, while Hilfiger remained in tune with the legends of film and cinema that were wowing the world with their fashion choices, the real inspiration for what was to become the bed- rock image of the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation was found a little closer to home.
“I had always admired the clothes that my father wore, and I wanted to create a look that was both classic and fresh,” he explains. “I knew that I wanted to design clothes and create a lifestyle brand that was cool and relaxed.”
“I’ve always loved yachts and sailing, and I had this idea of establishing my brand with the flag that proved to be a very important factor in creating consumer awareness. I also wanted to make clothes that were affordable and wearable, and that carried a sense of style that people could identify with... I’m very proud to have been part of the process of spreading American culture around the world.”
If you experience places from the water, you see them from a different viewpoint: you see the terrain, and if it’s an island, you can then circle it to find the best beaches and ports.
Hilfiger’s home-nation is a permanent presence within his brand – “my clothes have always borne the patriotic red, white and blue label” – but the designer is quick to point out that his rags-to-riches sartorial story isn’t just confined to the States.
“I don’t think that my success is a particularly American phenomenon,” he says. ”Look at Renzo Rosso and Diesel. He’s Italian. You can also point to Yves Saint Laurent, who was French. I’m an example of someone who started with nothing and became successful, and that’s come to be associated with what people call the American Dream.”
Though Hilfiger acknowledged certain differences in transatlantic fashion. In America, and his corporation in particular, there is a tendency not to take yourself too seriously in the industry, whereas in Europe the ideals of high fashion and the culture of the catwalk are considered sacrosanct to many. Regardless of these aesthetic anomalies, Hilfiger makes clear that the fundamentals of fashion are unchanged whichever side of the Atlantic you stand on.
Most importantly for Hilfiger, success is only worth it if you can invest that reward in something that makes you happy. “It’s interesting that my business was a reflection of my love for the sea; and now the time I spent on the yacht or on the coast is a reflection of the success of the business and I feel incredibly lucky everyday I sit out and see those views.”
ONBOARD | WINTER 2022 | 21
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