They were hired as a husband-and-wife design team by the apparel brand Jordache, but were fired after only a year. Hilfiger developed a reputation as a hard-working young designer, and was considered for jobs at Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein. What he really wanted, however, was his own label. In , Hilfiger was approached by Indian entrepreneur Mohan Murjani, who was looking for a designer to head a men's sportswear line.
Murjani allowed Hilfiger to design the label under his own name, sealing the deal. The pair announced Hilfiger's arrival onto the scene with a blitz marketing campaign that included a bold billboard in New York City's Times Square announcing Hilfiger as the next big thing in American fashion. Their tactics rankled the fashion establishment, which looked down on Hilfiger's naked self-promotion-Calvin Klein even got into a shouting match with the billboard's creator at a New York City restaurant.
Though Hilfiger was embarrassed by the fallout, the bold tactics worked. Hilfiger's line of preppy clothes with his trademark red, white and blue logo soon became wildly popular. By the early s, the hip-hop world embraced oversized versions of Hilfiger's clothes, and the brand assiduously courted rap stars and celebrities. Snoop Dogg's choice of a giant Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt during a Saturday Night Live performance in March brought sales figures to an all-time high.
Despite Hilfiger's commercial success, however, the fashion elite still snubbed him. They, later relented, and gave it to him in In , Hilfiger split with his wife of 20 years, with whom he had four children. His professional fortunes crumbled as well. His clothes fell off in popularity among the hip-hop set, and sales plunged by as much as 75 percent. Hilfiger: I always say the best is yet to come. My memoir, American Dreamer, will publish on November 1, and writing this book has been an incredible process.
I am always dreaming today about what we can be doing tomorrow. Looking to the future, I hope our impact on fashion will be the youthful, fun, individual spirit we bring to the industry.
We will continue to pioneer innovation and embrace pop culture — particularly music — as our core inspiration, and above all we will keep the consumer at the heart of our business.
Hilfiger: Never give up on your dreams, stick to your vision, and stay true to yourself and what is important to you. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. More From Forbes. Nov 10, , pm EST. Nov 10, , am EST. Edit Story. One of a designer's best marketing tools is dressing celebrities.
Hilfiger established himself first with young rappers whose influence was glorified through music videos and television. Other artists soon adopted his clothes, and the relationship between clothes and music became so tight that Hilfiger wound up in rap lyrics.
Since then, Hilfiger's trendy status has attracted many more big names to his designs. He's also used names to sell his merchandise in print ads. Hilfiger originally set out to dress celebrities and has specifically targeted the young, up-and-coming, cool crowd. This has been an enormously successful strategy for the designer whose company experiences a surge in sales whenever a name like DiCaprio appears in Hilfiger clothes. Celebrities lend their assets to Hilfiger's merchandise, but his real customer base is with real people, especially kids.
Hilfiger may appeal to all ages, but what sets him apart from other designers is his lock on the youth market. Hilfiger is known to be a kid at heart, a favorable prerequisite to selling to kids. His love of all things fun is manifested in his office decor: a red leather jacket signed by Bruce Spring-steen, photos of Mick Jagger and John Lennon, electric Gibson guitars, a Superbowl football signed by Floyd Little, and books on trains, vintage convertibles, and sports.
Hilfiger has also been anointed as fashion's nice guy by the national press. The image is supported by his philanthropic deeds. He has been involved in the raising of money for multiple sclerosis research one of his sisters suffers from the disease , sponsoring T-shirt sales during one of Sheryl Crow's concert tours and then donating the money for breast cancer research, and raising money for a youth center serving lower-income families.
Hilfiger says he would like to be known as an important American designer. However, Hilfiger's popularity with the masses may be a signal that his decline as an innovator for young style-setters is imminent. The Hilfiger name has saturated the market and is already becoming passe in the urban environments that often define what is up-and-coming.
Nevertheless, Wall Street continues to show enthusiasm for Hilfiger stock. The company is hoping to stay on top of its brand development, which will include a broad expansion of the product line and more overseas sales.
Hilfiger maintains to the Albany Times Union, "the key is to keep coming back, but coming back in different ways. Hilfiger and his wife have four children and live in a room estate on a converted farm in Greenwich, Connecticut. He also owns homes on Nantucket and the Caribbean island of Mustique. All rights reserved. Celebrity Chic One of a designer's best marketing tools is dressing celebrities.
Daily News Record, November 2, London Daily Telegraph, August 22,
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