By 1990, sales of Tommy Hilfiger clothes had topped $25 million. There were two sides to his look at certain points of the nineties. There was the preppy, crisp polos and cable-knit sweaters and then there were the baggy, huge logo style worn by rappers.
Eventually rappers figured out that they could put their own name on clothes and make money, so Hilfiger’s impact on the styling of hip hop artists started to fade. But that hardly made a difference in his overall career, because he just more so embraced the American prep look that he’s good at producing year after year. And now the brand has almost 1,200 stores around the world with designs in womenswear, menswear, children, fragrances, and bedding and bath products. “The American relax, casual, spirited look resignates very well worldwide, especially the American preppy, classic look. It may not be very cutting edge look, but we leave that for the collection we do on the runway.
And now Tommy Hilfiger is onto new styling adventures. He was just named the first fashion consultant for the singing competition series, American Idol. “All the big stars are fashion icons. If you have that talent, you need the whole package and I will help them put their package together.” He is also going to be honored in June at the Council of Fashion Designer’s of America’s annual awards show with a lifetime achievement award.
So what else in the world can this fashion mogul do with the rest of his days? “I’d like to do a hotel,” he says grinning. Maybe one day we’ll be able to stay in rooms at “The Hilfiger”, but until then we can continue shopping at one of his many stores around the world.