Contemporary Authors

• Rock Style: How Fashion Moves to Music ( with Anthony DeCurtis) Universe (New York, NY), 1999
• New England: Icons and Inspirations ( edited by Philip Reeser) Rizzoli (New York, NY), 2004
• Iconic America: A Roller-Coaster Ride through the Eye-Popping Panorama of American Pop Culture ( with George Lois) Universe (New York, NY), 2007
• American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion & Business ( with Peter Knobler) Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2016

1. Bite me : how Lyme disease stole my childhood, made me crazy, and almost killed me LCCN 2016934147 Type of material Book Personal name Hilfiger, Ally, 1985- author. Main title Bite me : how Lyme disease stole my childhood, made me crazy, and almost killed me / Ally Hilfiger, foreword by Tommy Hilfiger. Edition First edition. Published/Produced New York : Center Street, 2016. ©2016 Description xvii, 298 pages ; 22 cm ISBN 9781455567065 (hardcover) 145556706X (hardcover) Links Contributor biographical information https://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1621/2016934147-b.html Publisher description https://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1621/2016934147-d.html CALL NUMBER RC155.5 .H55 2016 CABIN BRANCH Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 2. American dreamer : my life in fashion & business LCCN 2016023113 Type of material Book Personal name Hilfiger, Tommy, author. Main title American dreamer : my life in fashion & business / Tommy Hilfiger with Peter Knobler. Edition First edition. Published/Produced New York : Ballantine Books, [2016] Description xii, 337 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm ISBN 9781101886212 (hardcover : alk. paper) CALL NUMBER TT505.H55 A3 2016 CABIN BRANCH Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 3. Iconic America : a roller-coaster ride through the eye-popping panorama of American pop culture LCCN 2007926565 Type of material Book Personal name Hilfiger, Tommy. Main title Iconic America : a roller-coaster ride through the eye-popping panorama of American pop culture / by Tommy Hilfiger ; with George Lois. Published/Created New York : Universe, 2007. Description 335 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 32 cm. ISBN 9780789315731 0789315734 Links Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0908/2007926565-b.html Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0908/2007926565-d.html CALL NUMBER E169.1 .H59 2007 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms CALL NUMBER E169.1 .H59 2007 Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms 4. New England : icons and inspirations LCCN 2004104408 Type of material Book Personal name Hilfiger, Tommy. Main title New England : icons and inspirations by Tommy Hilfiger ; [editor: Philip Reeser]. Edition 1st ed. Published/Created New York, NY : Rizzoli, 2004. Description 233 p. : col. ill., maps ; 33 cm. ISBN 0847826619 Links Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/hol054/2004104408.html CALL NUMBER F5 .H55 2004 Copy 2 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms CALL NUMBER F5 .H55 2004 LANDOVR Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms - STORED OFFSITE 5. Rock style : how fashion moves to music LCCN 99075669 Type of material Book Personal name Hilfiger, Tommy. Main title Rock style : how fashion moves to music / by Tommy Hilfiger with Anthony DeCurtis. Published/Created New York : Universe Pub., c1999. Description 157 p. : chiefly ill. ; 42 cm. ISBN 0789303833 Links Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/bios/hol055/99075669.html Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/description/hol057/99075669.html CALL NUMBER ML3534 .H535 1999 fol. Copy 1 Request in Performing Arts Reading Room (Madison, LM113)

• WWD - http://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/tommy-hilfigers-tell-all-american-dreamer-10677749/

  Tommy Hilfiger’s Tell-All: “American Dreamer”
  The designer describes the setbacks and comebacks in building a global lifestyle brand.

  By Lisa Lockwood on October 20, 2016

  VIEW GALLERY — 9 PHOTOS

  Tommy Hilfiger has seen his first company go bankrupt, watched as his own brand became a hip-hop sensation and then just as rapidly shunned, built it back up again after it was sold and dealt with it being sold a second time. In his personal life, he’s been divorced, remarried and seen his children struggle with disease and special needs. He’s mingled with rock stars and celebrities, bought major artworks, traveled the world and lives in lavish homes in Greenwich, Conn., and Mustique.

  Throughout it all, Hilfiger has remained an “American Dreamer.” And that’s the title of his surprisingly honest new memoir, which is subtitled “My Life in Fashion & Business.” In the book, the designer chronicles the highs and painful lows (both personally and professionally) of building a megabrand that combined his love of fashion, music and pop culture.

  Hilfiger, 65, opens up about his childhood growing up as one of nine children in Elmira, N.Y., and being a big disappointment to his father. He describes being a newspaper boy, working in a sporting goods store, his learning issues in school, flunking sophomore year in high school, opening People’s Place stores in upstate New York at the age of 18 and then taking his eye off the ball and going bankrupt by 25 years old.

  Moving to New York City to pursue his dream of designing his own collection, Hilfiger takes on a variety of design jobs and ends up turning down an offer from Calvin Klein to design jeans-casualwear because something better came along — an opportunity from Mohan Murjani to design his own Tommy Hilfiger men’s wear label. Later, Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll (who taught him to “think big”) entered the picture and the fortunes started rolling in. The company went public in 1992 and enjoyed a great run in such categories as women’s wear, Hilfiger Denim, kids’ wear, accessories, fragrance and home — frequently aligning with pop-culture icons, such as The Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, David Bowie and Beyoncé.

  In the book, Hilfiger discusses the competition at that time and where he saw himself fitting in. “In 1992 and 1993, Ralph [Lauren] probably wasn’t very happy with us. My intent was never to copy him. I wanted to be newer and fresher and younger, and hipper and cooler. But we all liked Ralph’s business model: the basics, classics and fashion delivered on a regular basis; the in-store shops; the stand-alone shops; the advertising; the lifestyle image. I particularly admired his company’s replenishment operation in department stores, which we adopted.”

  He cites his models in the business, calling Lauren and Klein the “Rolls Royce and Mercedes-Benz” of the design world, and referred to himself as the Audi. “I thought, if I continue to expand the product line, get it in the right stores, improve the design, fit and quality, I’m going to move up to being a Porsche,” he writes.

  While his signature was classics with a twist, Hilfiger ultimately became a sensation with the hip-hop community, which embraced his oversize jeans and logoed sweatshirts (Snoop Dogg wore Hilfiger’s red, white and blue rugby with “Tommy” huge on his chest when he was on “Saturday Night Live” and reorders went crazy). “That was the night that made Tommy Hilfiger supremely cool with the youth,” writes Hilfiger.

  But the hip-hop world moved on, the line became ubiquitous, overdistributed and highly promotional and started spiraling downward by the early Aughts, and it needed to cut back substantially.

  At one point, Hilfiger’s board considered selling the company to Iconix, which was negotiating an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. While Hilfiger couldn’t deny the fact that having a vast amount of money would open up new worlds, he writes, “I enjoyed my glamorous life and the culture, scenes and people I encountered because of it, and I wasn’t certain I would be enthralled with going to Bentonville, Ark., and servicing that client solely.”

  The company eventually was sold to Apax Partners and taken private, and did an exclusive deal with Macy’s in the U.S., while retaining a separate affordable luxury line globally. Things started clicking again. The brand was later sold to PVH Corp. In 2015, Hilfiger generated $6.5 billion in global retail sales.

  Hilfiger’s book contains plenty of personal revelations as well, such as a visit to a Palm Springs, Calif., psychic in 1983 who told Hilfiger he would be “very, very successful;” descriptions of his homes in Greenwich and Mustique; his friendships with Quincy Jones, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Lenny Kravitz, Mick Jagger and Tommy Mottola, to name a few; the painful divorce from his first wife, Susie Hilfiger; his daughter Ally’s battle with Lyme disease; a brush-up with Axl Rose at a New York nightclub; having a child with special needs and eventually meeting and marrying Dee Ocleppo.

  Hilfiger wrote his memoir (Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, $30) with Peter Knobler, who has collaborated on several bestsellers, including Sumner Redstone’s “A Passion to Win,” and Mary Matalin and James Carville’s “All’s Fair.”

  Here, Hilfiger talks about the turning points and challenges in his career and the process of writing his life story.

  WWD: Why did you decide now was the time to write your biography?

  Tommy Hilfiger: I was hesitant to write it, but thought I better do it now because someday I may forget. We sat for hours on end. We really started with me as a child. I started telling him all my stories as far back as I remember it. Keeping it in chronological order helped me weave the story through many, many years. But at times, I would go back and say, “Oh, I forgot to tell you the time I visited Michael Jackson’s house in California,” or “I forget to tell you the story of Lenny Kravitz, or the time I first met Silas Chou.”

  WWD: Did you get Peter Knobler full access to all your friends and family?

  T.H.: Yes, he talked to Silas, he talked to Joel [Horowitz], he talked to a number of friends and family.

  WWD: How long did the book take to write?

  T.H.: It took over a year. I would meet with him for blocks of time, I would say twice a month, sometimes two, three days in a row. Sometimes a full day, or an afternoon. I would meet him in New York, sometimes in Connecticut, he met me in Miami. We spent a lot of time together. And a lot of meals together. We tried to keep very clear headed. I’ve been approached by different people over the years. I felt I didn’t want to do it until I got much older, when I’m in my late 70s, 80s. But then I thought, I might forget. I want my children to hear the whole life story. They’ve heard bits and pieces over the years, but they’ve never heard the entire story in chronological order.

  WWD: Do you have an incredible memory? There are so many details in the book.

  T.H.: I didn’t realize I had an incredible memory. Telling Peter the story, I remember what I was wearing and what other people were wearing. And I remember what we were eating and drinking. I remember smells, I remember going into this boutique in St. Marks in 1969, and I remember what it smelled like.

  WWD: What was the hardest part of writing the book?

  T.H.: The hardest part of writing the book really was talking about the struggles I had with my dad. Then, of course, every time I think about the bankruptcy I had in my 20s. Even though I viewed it as my M.B.A., it was a hard time. And then at the end of the Nineties, when Tommy Hilfiger started slowing, it was frightening. My situation with Susie when our marriage was in trouble was very difficult. There were some tough moments.

  WWD: What parts didn’t you want to put into the book that you ended up putting in?

  T.H.: A lot of the personal stuff. I didn’t really want to put a lot of personal things in the book. But I thought that if I didn’t become fully transparent, the book wouldn’t have authenticity. I just had to tell the story the way it is. One of the reasons I was so transparent in the book was, two years ago, Diane von Furstenberg sent me her book, I read it on Christmas vacation and it was so inspiring because it was real; she opened her heart. I never wanted to put the book down because it was so open and transparent.

  WWD: What do you consider the best period in your life?

  T.H.: The best period in my life is right now. Life keeps getting better. I’m very happy with my family life. I’m happy where my children are at this point in time. I’m happy with the business. I see great progress with what we’re doing with Gigi [Hadid’s] see-now-buy-now; the whole structure of the business is very solid and strong. I’ve got great business associates and partners and an amazing team. I have an amazing marriage with Dee and I’m really in a great place.

  WWD: In the book, you talk about how you and your father never got along and he mistreated you. Did you ever make peace with your dad and did he live to see your tremendous success?

  T.H.: Yes, I did make peace with my dad, and he did see my success. Unfortunately he is no longer living but he was very proud. He died in 1989. I wanted to prove to him that I could actually become successful. I think he saw I was really very focused and serious and productive. I think that put him at ease.

  WWD: What would you consider the key turning points in your life?

  T.H.: One was my early bankruptcy because it really forced me to learn about the fashion business, another turning point was when I met Mohan Murjani, another was when I met Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll, and another was our IPO in 1992. At the same time, we were Estée Lauder’s first licensee thanks to Leonard and Evelyn. Estée didn’t want any other brands but Leonard convinced her we would be a good one. Tommy and Tommy Girl broke all records of sales and became number one for five straight years, earning us multiple FiFi awards. In my personal life, it was when each one of my children was born; Susie and I had a lot of great times together, and my marriage to Dee is fantastic.

  WWD: In the book you write that Sebastian, the son that you had with Dee, is on the spectrum of autism. How is he doing?

  T.H.: He’s doing well. We caught it early. It’s still a struggle because you need therapy. I feel badly for families who don’t have the wherewithal to have the right therapy for their children who are on the spectrum.

  WWD: Any regrets?

  T.H.: I don’t have a lot of regrets. Many times I think if I had gone to college, I might have avoided my Chapter 11 and maybe I would have had a better handle on the business. But I wouldn’t have had a business if I’d gone to college. I started my business right out of high school.

  WWD: As a child you had dyslexia. Do you still suffer from it?

  T.H.: I just had to learn how to read in a different way. I think I cured myself. It’s not like I took medication or went to a specialist. I forced myself to read each word as it presented itself, rather than attempting to speed read or read like a normal person.

  WWD: When you write in the book that your initial partners (Joel Horowitz, Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll) were leaving, Susie wanted a divorce and you were suffering from hepatitis C, did you think you had hit rock bottom? How did you manage to keep it together?

  T.H.: I’m really a very positive-minded person. I just had to get through this period. I got my health better and had to be there for my children and remain friendly and on good terms with Susie, and I had to do whatever I could do to fix the business. Fortunately, Fred Gehring, our former chief executive officer, really had the magic formula, which was what he was doing in Europe with the business. The formula was right in front of us. So when Fred came to me and wanted me to be part of a group to take the company private, the roadmap was there. Although it took a few years, it was very inspiring.

  WWD: What advice would you give a teenager looking to drop out of college like you did and pursue his or her passions to open a clothing store and a head shop?

  T.H.: I think if a young person is passionate about something specific, he or she should follow their passion. You look at Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, all of these successes in Silicon Valley, these people have had passion in a specific area and have therefore succeeded. College isn’t for everyone. If you don’t have that passion or that specific focus in mind, I believe you should go to university and get an education.

  WWD: You mentioned in the book that you had three options to sell the company. Iconix wanted to do a deal with Wal-Mart, Sun Capital wanted to take it to a store like J.C. Penney or Kohl’s, and Apax wanted to keep it as an affordable luxury brand like it was in Europe. Have you thought about what would have happened if you took it downmarket?

  T.H.: Although it [the Iconix-Wal-Mart scenario] was a multibillion dollar idea, it was not interesting to me, because I really wanted to continue to realize the dream.

  WWD: You don’t think that dream would have happened if it was at Wal-Mart?

  T.H.: I don’t think it would have been able to morph into a global designer lifestyle brand and that was my dream.

  WWD: Do you think that your first marriage to Susie didn’t survive because of all your fame and success and your desire to live a high-flying lifestyle? Did she want a simpler life?

  T.H.: I think it had an effect on it. My life has really been full-on. From the day we launched Tommy Hilfiger, from traveling to factories and all different parts of the world, going on personal appearance tours, to opening stores all over the world, to going on photo shoots.

  WWD: Did you consider the “Hangman” campaign where you compared yourself to three other “Great American Designers for Men” at the time — Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein — as a critical juncture to becoming well known?

  T.H.: That was another critical turning point. As you know, I was hesitant and credit George Lois for being the genius that he is because he said, “This is how you’re going to be known overnight.” He was not wrong. Immediately after, the name became known. It was overnight. It was amazing.

  WWD: How did you handle that some people didn’t think you deserved to be comparing yourself to Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren, and that you hadn’t earned that respect yet. Did that motivate you? Did you feel unaccepted by the design community?

  T.H.: Yes, it was a moment of disbelief. I thought, ‘Wait a minute, do I even believe I can live up to that? The only way it will happen is to really roll up my sleeves, put my nose to the grindstone and make this happen.’ So Joel Horowitz, my partner at the time, said, “Don’t listen to what they’re writing or what they’re saying. Let’s come up with a great product and great image, and focus on the business.” He was a great partner because he had a very solid, objective point of view. When Silas came along it was a whole different story. Silas and Lawrence brought a whole different bag of magic. I’m grateful I had incredible partners all this time. I never would have been able to do it without superstar partners.

  WWD: At one point in the book you write that, “No one is an inventor in the fashion business. Designers recreate fashion.” Do you really believe that?

  T.H.: Yes, I don’t think generally speaking, there are a lot of innovators and inventors. Many of the designers take what exists already and update it or make it relevant for today. But true inventors have never been seen before. Bill Gates is a real inventor. I don’t think fashion designers invent anything new. They innovate new ways to make fashion.

  WWD: If you had a chance to do it all again, would you have become so tight with the hip-hop community? Do you believe that ultimately you damaged your brand when they abandoned you? Or did that success propel it to heights that you never would have seen? [In one year, sales increased by $100 million.]

  T.H.: I think that every chapter in my business career was meant to be. It was really a fun time. Within a very short amount of time, everyone was wearing Tommy, and that was just an exciting moment in my career. Now street fashion is on all the runways in Paris.

  WWD: Did it lead to losing your core customer?

  T.H.: I think we became much bigger than we should have become. Our distribution was too vast. We grew too fast. We put up too many logos, it was a period of overdistribution, and it needed to shrink. We took the pill.

  WWD: You’re glad it happened that way?

  T.H.: We sort of knew it was growing out of control. But as a public company, we needed to keep the stock growing and the shareholders happy. But we kept feeding the beast.

  WWD: I guess you rode it up, but then Joel bore the brunt of having to explain to Wall Street why it came tumbling own?

  T.H.: Yes [laughter]. It wasn’t funny at the time. We learned a lot.

  WWD: Do you have any regrets that you helped Sean Combs build his business (Sean John), and then it took market share?

  T.H.: I’ve always been a mentor to younger designers and people who have asked me for my advice. I also think what was meant to be was meant to be. I was happy to help young people who come to me for advice. Many people helped me along the way.

  WWD: How would you describe the David Dyer era? (Dyer was president and ceo of Hilfiger from 2003 to 2006)

  T.H.: I would describe it as a time period whereby we lacked direction and I just wasn’t happy with the direction we were mapping out for the future.

  WWD: How did you feel when Joel stepped down and Silas and Lawrence sold?

  T.H.: That wasn’t a happy period for me.

  WWD: Whom do you credit for getting the business back on track?

  T.H.: I really credit Fred [Gehring] and his leadership because he really figured out the formula for success in Europe. It was his thought process to bring it back to the States and plant new seeds. Then we did the exclusive with Macy’s, which has been a success and business is better than it’s ever been. I also credit Terry Lundgren for embracing us and giving us the support that was necessary to bring it back.

  WWD: Have you enjoyed your role as ambassador of the brand and not having all the design responsibilities?

  T.H.: I’m busier than I’ve ever been and happier than I’ve ever been. I don’t have the burden of the day-to-day business. Manny [Chirico, ceo] of PVH is doing an incredible job with not only our brand, but obviously Calvin. I feel that our leadership is better than ever and is as strong as any leadership in the entire industry. Daniel Grieder, who is global ceo, is leading the charge and believes very strongly in social media and being on the edge from a technology standpoint; that is one of the reasons we have continued global growth. It takes a very special person to have that vision. He’s very strong and confident in making decisions that keep us on the edge of technology.

  WWD: How will you promote this book?

  T.H.: I’m doing the talk shows, and book party here [in New York] Nov. 1 and one in Europe. We’ll do some appearances in Europe and we’ll promote it in a very strong way. I hope young people who are planning to build a brand read it and avoid some of the pitfalls and maybe take advantage of some of the thought process.

• Times of India - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/Tommy-Hilfiger-publishes-memoir-American-Dreamer/articleshow/55286805.cms

  Tommy Hilfiger publishes memoir ‘American Dreamer’

  ANI | Updated: Nov 7, 2016, 12.10 PM IST
  <p>
  One of the world’s most renowned fashion designers, Tommy Hilfiger, launches his memoir entitled ‘American Dreamer’. (File photo)</p>

  One of the world’s most renowned fashion designers, Tommy Hilfiger, launches his memoir entit... Read More
  One of the world’s most renowned fashion designers, Tommy Hilfiger, recently launched his memoir entitled ‘American Dreamer’ which chronicles his life and career.
  The company ‘Tommy Hilfiger’ announced the global launch of the memoir, which went on sale from November 1.
  From his beginnings as an eager entrepreneur in Elmira, New York, to founding his namesake brand and building international growth, the memoir shares Hilfiger’s most genuine and moving recollections.
  “After more than 40 years in the fashion industry, I wanted to record the memories behind my life and brand,” said Tommy Hilfiger, “American Dreamer is a roadmap of the moments that have defined both my career and my personal life-from my childhood in Elmira, New York, to building a global business. I’m excited to share my journey and I hope it can inspire others to pursue their dreams.”
  ‘American Dreamer’ has garnered early praise from various personalities including English singer and songwriter Mick Jagger who recognizes Hilfiger as a brand that was “instantly taken up by rappers and rockers alike” for his “elegant and stylish looks”.
  ”American Dreamer shows how he has managed to be successful in business and done so with integrity. I have come to know Tommy, and every time we talk I learn something new about creating a successful business,” said footballer David Beckham.
  Written in collaboration with Peter Knobler and published by Ballantine Books, the memoir is available worldwide on tommy.com and at select Tommy Hilfiger retail stores. It is available in India on Amazon.in.

• Gulf News - http://gulfnews.com/life-style/glamour/fashion/tommy-hilfiger-on-his-memoir-american-dreamer-1.1933965

  Tommy Hilfiger on his memoir ‘American Dreamer’
  Iconic designer, 65, talks about the evolution of his label and why there is such a thing as being too popular

  Tommy HilfigerImage Credit: AFP

  Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Hilfiger attend the 2016 Angel Ball in New York City.Image Credit: AFP
  ( 1 of 2 )
  ‹›
  Published: 09:33 November 23, 2016 Tabloid
  AFP

  Sometimes, there is such a thing as being too popular, Tommy Hilfiger says, explaining that after his label’s crazy romp in the 1990s, he had to reinvent the brand.
  Decked out in red trousers and a white shirt with blue stripes, and white sneakers — poster boy for his brand’s staple colours — the 65-year-old designer chatted about the evolution of his label, and his memoir American Dreamer.

  Hilfiger’s beginnings
  “When I was a teenager, I didn’t really know what to do with my life. I liked rock music, I liked the clothes they were wearing and I opened a small shop with $150 I earned from working at a gas station.
  “I started with 20 pairs of jeans in a small shop. And then I started expanding on college campuses with very cool clothes.

  “I opened it in 1969, when the fashion-music revolution was taking place. It was the summer of Woodstock, Jimmy Hendrix and The Who, and all of these incredible musicians that were wearing the most amazing clothes: low bottoms, headbands, beads, the hippie type fashion. It was really a movement with the young people and I wanted to be part of that movement.”
  From hippie to preppy
  “I evolved away from this hippie style in the early 80s, because I wanted to make clothes that were clothes that everyone could wear. And I knew that if I redesigned American classics, and made classics new again, it would be a great business and at the same time it would be a lot of fun to do.
  “So I took this preppy look I grew up with... button-down shirts and chino pants, sort of sporty, casual. So I redesigned everything. I wanted to make everything new, unique, fresh and fun.”
  1985: who is this guy?
  “I didn’t really have any money for advertising. But I met this guy George Louis, a genius. He said: ‘If you advertise the way other people in fashion advertise, it’s going to take you 20 years to build a brand. You have to do something really different and disruptive, out of the box.’ Then he showed me his idea. His idea was to compare me, Tommy Hilfiger, an unknown, to the biggest designers — Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis.
  “And when the ad went up in Times Square, New York City, it said ‘The four great American designers’ and I was the fourth of them. At that time those were the biggest American designers and my name was with theirs. So everybody said ‘Who is this guy?,’ ‘Who does he think he is?,’ ‘And by the way, what do his clothes look like?’ So everybody was looking at the clothes.
  “You have to be disruptive, you have to do something different, you can’t do the same as everybody else. That’s how you’re going to succeed.”
  Hip hop credentials
  “In the early 90s, I started doing this athletic type of clothing, with big numbers, big logos, I went very bold with the logos. And the street kids started wearing it, and then the hip hop kids started wearing it. And then Snoop Dogg, Puff Daddy and Jay Z, all them started wearing my clothes and it spread like crazy. The business became very big in the 90s, too big.
  “When everybody is wearing the same thing, the first adopters usually say, ‘I don’t want to wear it anymore, because I’ve seen it everywhere.’ It becomes too big.
  “This is what happened with Abercrombie recently. Then the business goes through a difficult period, because a lot of people just stop wearing it. This happened to the Gap even.
  “So we had to reinvent and the business took off again.”
  ‘Hurtful’ rumours
  Hilfiger battled a persistent online rumour in the late 1990s and early 2000s that claimed he had told Oprah Winfrey his clothes were not made for minorities. Despite the denial from both parties, the bogus story refused to die and the chat show host finally invited Hilfiger on set, in 2007, to clear up the mess.
  “It’s a lie, it’s false, it was made to hurt my business and me.... The business continued to be strong, we didn’t see the numbers be affected, but it was hurtful.
  “I never would have made my clothes affordable and accessible for everybody had I not wanted everybody to wear the clothes!”

• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Hilfiger

  Tommy Hilfiger
  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  This article is about the person. For the company, see Tommy Hilfiger (company).
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  This article may have been created or substantially edited in return for undisclosed payments, a violation of Wikipedia's terms of use. Its neutrality may be compromised as a result. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view and sourcing. Please discuss further on the talk page. (December 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
  Tommy Hilfiger
  Tommy Hilfiger portrait 2009 - Tommy Hilfiger.jpg
  Hilfiger in 2009
  Born Thomas Jacob Hilfiger
  March 24, 1951 (age 66)
  Elmira, New York, U.S.
  Nationality American
  Occupation Fashion designer
  Spouse(s)
  Susie Hilfiger (m. 1980; div. 2000)
  Dee Ocleppo (m. 2008)
  Children 5
  Website tommy.com
  Labels Tommy Hilfiger
  Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfiger (born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer best known for founding the lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1985.[1] 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.[2] The company later expanded into women's clothing and various luxury items such as perfumes, and went public in 1992.[2] In 1997,[2] Hilfiger published his first book, titled All American: A Style Book, and he has written several since, including Tommy Hilfiger through Assouline in 2010.[2] Hilfiger's memoirs American Dreamer, co-written with Peter Knobler,[3] were published November 1, 2016.[3][4]

  Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures and marketed in connection with the music industry,[5][6] with celebrities such as American R&B icon Aaliyah in the 1990s.[7] In 2005, contestants in the CBS reality show The Cut competed for a design job with Hilfiger in a similar fashion to The Apprentice.[8] In 2006, Hilfiger sold his company for $1.6 billion to Apax Partners,[9] and it was sold again in 2010 to Phillips-Van Heusen for $3 billion.[10] He remains the company’s principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process.[11] In 2012 Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.[12]

  Contents [hide]
  1 Early life and education
  2 Business and fashion career
  2.1 People's Place and early lines (1970s–1983)
  2.2 Founding Tommy Hilfiger Inc. (1984–1990s)
  2.3 Increased brand exposure (1990s–2004)
  2.4 Media appearances (2005–2011)
  2.5 Recent years and memoir (2012-2016)
  3 Charity work
  4 Legal
  5 Recognition
  6 Style and impact
  7 Personal life
  8 Publishing history
  9 Filmography
  10 See also
  11 References
  12 External links
  Early life and education[edit]
  Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfiger was born March 24, 1951 in Elmira, New York.[13] The second of nine children,[14] both of his parents were practicing Catholics.[15][16] His father Richard was a watchmaker of Dutch-German descent[14] and his mother Virginia (née Gerrity)[17] was a nurse of Irish descent.[18] Hilfiger also claims direct descent from the Scottish poet Robert Burns.[19] Hilfiger has described his upbringing as very happy. He credits his parents with instilling a good work ethic and compassion for others.[20] Hilfiger had an early interest in sports, fashion, and the music industry,[21] a trend that ran in his family.[22] One of his brothers, Andy Hilfiger, went on to work as a musician and designer, while Hilfiger's other brother Billy Hilfiger[17] would join King Flux as a guitarist.[23] Hilfiger graduated from the Elmira Free Academy high school in 1970.[14] His parents wanted him to get a college education and pursue a traditional career,[12] and for a time he attended GST BOCES Bush Campus in Elmira.[24]

  Business and fashion career[edit]
  People's Place and early lines (1970s–1983)[edit]
  Hilfiger spent the summer of 1969 working in a clothing store on Cape Cod,[25] and afterwards he decided to use his life savings of $150[25][26] to open a clothing store with two friends.[25] Opened in 1971[2] as People’s Place,[25] the first store was located in downtown Elmira in what is now the site of First Arena, and had a hair salon, a record shop, and rock concerts in the basement.[25] To stock the store, Hilfiger and his friends would drive to New York City to buy clothing such as bell-bottoms, peasant blouses, and leather jackets.[25] Slightly unsatisfied with the clothing he bought from other suppliers, Hilfiger began sketching his own designs, and would later write that "designing made me happier than anything I’d ever done. I knew from that early work that designing would be my life."[25]

  Despite its initial success,[25] after seven years of selling "hippie supplies like bell-bottoms, incense and records"[18] out of ten stores,[21] the People's Place went bankrupt in 1977, when Hilfiger was 25.[18] He’s often referred to this point in his life as his real-world MBA.[27] At this point Hilfiger enrolled in classes on commerce and the business side of the fashion industry.[12] After then moving to New York City[25] and working for several different labels, he set up a company called Tommy Hill in 1979,[25] forming a design team at the age of 28.[25] One of his first clients was Jordache Jeans,[12][25] and as Hilfiger's company expanded beyond denim[12] he spent time in India, learning more about his trade: "I would sit in the factory with my pile of sketches and watch them being made, tweaking as I went. There’s no better design school in the world."[25] In 1981 he founded the company 20th Century Survival, and the following year he founded Click Point, which designed women's clothing.[2]

  Founding Tommy Hilfiger Inc. (1984–1990s)[edit]
  See also: Tommy Hilfiger Corporation
  After Tommy Hillfiger went through several iterations, in 1984 Hilfiger’s first wife Susie Cirona became pregnant with their first child.[25] Searching for more stability,[18][25] Hilfiger was relieved to be offered a design position with Calvin Klein.[25] However, after he accepted the Calvin Klein position but before he had begun working, he was approached by businessman Mohan Murjani,[18] to pursue his goal of designing and heading a men's sportswear line.[12][25] Murjani backed the necessary investment for Hilfiger to establish his own brand.[2] Later Hilfiger oversaw the design of the Coca-Cola clothing line for Murjani.

  "[Waiting to form my own eponymous line] came from a desire to create something that wasn’t out there already. I was really in tune with the market—I knew what existed, and I wanted this to be different. Maybe it’s the small-town boy in me, but I’ve always loved the prep school look, traditional Ivy League, and the clothes that sailors and jocks wear. I wanted to take these familiar old things and give them a more laid-back attitude, to make them modern and cool....[with Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1985], finally, I felt like I was doing work that felt natural, that felt good. The brand we were building felt so honest, so true to who I am, that it didn’t feel like a struggle at all."

  — Tommy Hilfiger in 2010[25]
  In 1985, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation with support from The Murjani Group. The new clothing line made its debut with a high-profile marketing campaign, for example setting up a large billboard in Times Square[18] designed by George Lois.[28] Hilfiger left Murjani International in 1989, with Silas Chou instead providing financial backing to the Hilfiger brand,[2] and former executives of Ralph Lauren brought on board as executives of the newly formed company Tommy Hilfiger, Inc.[2] The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation went public in 1992, introducing Hilfiger's signature menswear collection.[2] Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995.[18][29] After licensing Pepe Jeans USA in 1995, in 1996, Tommy Hilfiger Inc. began distributing women's clothing.[2] By the end of the next year Hilfiger had opened his first store in Beverly Hills, which was followed by a store in London in 1998.[2] Hilfiger was serving as the company's co-chairman by 1997,[2] and that year he published his first book, titled All American: A Style Book.[2]

  Increased brand exposure (1990s–2004)[edit]
  "One year, my brother Andy brought the sons and daughters of rock and Hollywood legends on a tour bus (including Mark Ronson, Kidada Jones, and Kate Hudson) and threw fashion shows all over the country... we did [runway shows at] Madison Square Garden with Bush playing live, Pharrell at Bryant Park, and Lenny Kravitz in Paris. We had Treach on the runway in London, with Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell dancing around him. I’ve dressed the Rolling Stones for [their 1998 "No Security"] tour, and working with Mick Jagger and the band was such a great experience."
  — Tommy Hilfiger in 2010[5][6]
  A professed lifelong fan of rock and roll, Hilfiger's collections are often influenced by the fashion of music subcultures. The clothes are also marketed in connection with the music industry,[5][6] and as early as 1993 Hilfiger was an official sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour. Hilfiger has also sponsored several musical events, including Sheryl Crow’s If It Makes You Happy tour in 1997,[30] Britney Spears 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour as main sponsor,[31][32] and Lenny Kravitz’s 1999 Freedom tour.[33] By the mid-1990s, Hilfiger's style of clothing was popular with both the American "preppy" scene and as hip hop fashion.[18] American R&B icon Aaliyah became the much-publicized spokesperson for Tommy Hilfiger Corporation in 1997.[7]

  Hilfiger had a cameo in the fashion spoof Zoolander in 2001,[34] and from 2002 to 2006 Tommy Hilfiger INc. owned the naming rights to the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre venue.[35] Largely due to declining sales in the early 2000s, Hilfiger began reworking the brand, striving to retain the designer brand exclusivity of the Hilfiger label by signing a deal to distribute the best-selling Hilfiger lines at Macy's only.[18] The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation continued to work closely with musicians into the 2000s, focusing on fragrances as well as clothes. Sweetface Fashion, which owns the J.Lo by Jennifer Lopez line,[36][37][38] was bought out by Tommy Hilfiger in 2003.[39][40] True Star, a fragrance endorsed by Hilfiger and released in 2004, featured Beyoncé as its poster girl.[41] The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation company had revenues of approximately $1.8 billion, and 5,400 employees by 2004.[12]

  Media appearances (2005–2011)[edit]

  Exterior of a Tommy Hilfiger store in Tokyo, Japan, in 2008
  In 2005, a CBS reality show called The Cut tracked the progress of sixteen contestants as they competed for a design job with Tommy Hilfiger and their own fashion line under Hilfiger's label. The show progressed in a similar fashion to Donald Trump's The Apprentice. After a final competition that involved setting up the display window for Macy's Herald Square location in New York, Hilfiger chose Chris Cortez as the "next great American designer."[8] In 2006, Tommy Hilfiger sold his company for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company.[9] In 2008 Hilfiger, Rives, and Bar Refaeli co-hosted the Bravo special program Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America.[42] Based on the book Ironic Iconic America written by Hilfiger and designer George Lois,[43] the program examined how pop culture has influenced American tastes and styles.[44] In 2009 Hilfiger was a guest judge on an episode of Project Runway,[34] and he presented the Best African Artist award to Akon at the 2010 World Music Awards.[34]

  Phillips-Van Heusen, owner of Calvin Klein, bought the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation for $3 billion in March 2010.[10][45] The Tommy Hilfiger online and in-store ad campaign called "Meet The Hilfigers" began in August 2010 and ran through August 2011.[46] In 2011, Hilfiger and a partner signed a contract to buy the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower building for $170 million, planning to transform it into Hilfiger's first hotel, with luxury condos. Hilfiger backed off the project in September 2011.[47] A guest judge on the finale of Project Runway: All Stars along with Ken Downing in 2012,[34] shortly afterwards he served as a fashion consultant to contestants on season 11 of American Idol.[22][48]

  Recent years and memoir (2012-2016)[edit]
  Hilfiger was instrumental in the creation of the Marc Anthony Collection in 2012,[49] as Marc Anthony had never been interested in the fashion business until Hilfiger called him and convinced him a line was worthwhile.[50] In 2012, Hilfiger was awarded the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.[12] Global sales in retail for the brand in 2013 were US $6.4 billion,[11] and $6.7 billion in 2014.[51] Hilfiger remains the company’s principal designer, leading the design teams and overseeing the entire creative process.[11] In 2016, he collaborated with model Gigi Hadid on clothing designs[52] launching the TommyXGigi clothing collection.[53] On February 8, 2017, the brand will hold its ready-to-wear show in Los Angeles, in the first time the brand will not be part of New York Fashion Week.[54]

  In January 2015, Hilfiger announced that he was working on his memoirs.[55] The book was written chronologically over a year, with Hilfiger explaining "I was hesitant to write it, but thought I better do it now because someday I may forget."[56] Co-writer Peter Knobler had full access to interview friends and family, with Hilfiger citing the candor of Diane von Furstenberg's memoirs as an inspiration.[56] Calling the writing process "great therapy"[52] and "interesting,"[57] Hilfiger asserted that he "wanted to give people a sneak peek of what goes on behind the curtain [of] how the fashion industry works."[58] He read selections from the book in June 2016 at the Literacy Partners Evening of Readers and Gala Dinner Dance.[55] Hilfiger's memoirs American Dreamer, co-written with Peter Knobler,[3] were published November 1, 2016.[3][4] In a statement, Hilfiger described it as "a roadmap of the moments that have defined both my [40-year fashion career] and my personal life,"[59][60] and the book covers his childhood, his early business ventures, and his later life in fashion.[3] With Kirkus Reviews calling it "an honest, straightforward, mostly entertaining autobiography,"[61] Hilfiger made an appearance for the book at the Miami Book Fair shortly after its release.[58] American Dreamer appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers List in December 2016[62]

  Charity work[edit]

  World War II veterans, Petty Officer 1st class Lorenzo A. DuFau, a former signalman, and Petty Officer 2nd class James W. Graham of USS Mason, with Tommy Hilfiger during the screening of Proud at the Apollo Theater in 2005
  In 1995 Hilfiger launched The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation. With an emphasis on health, educational and cultural programs, the organization supports charities that focus on at-risk American youth.[63] In 1998[64] Hilfiger was one of several sponsors along with Moet and Chandon, Christie's Auction House, and The Advocate of the charity LIFEbeat - The Music Industry Fights AIDS.[65] He is also personally involved in charities and causes such as Autism Speaks and the MLK, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation,[28] and he has served on the board of directors for The Fresh Air Fund, a New York-based group that helps underprivileged children attend summer camp.[28] The Fresh Air Fund's Camp Pioneer program was renamed Camp Tommy in 1999, in honor of Hilfiger's patronage.[citation needed]

  Since 2008, Hilfiger has designed limited-edition handbags in support Breast Health International (BHI), an international organization focused on finding a cure for breast cancer. A portion of the handbag sales proceeds are donated to BHI’s Fund For Living program, with celebrity ambassadors appointed for each seasonal campaign. In 2013, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell modeled the BHI bag in a photo shoot with photographer Patrick Demarchelier.[66][67]

  Millennium Promise, a non-profit organization focused on eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease in impoverished regions, classifies Hilfiger as a Millennium Promise MDG Global Leader,[68] and in 2009 Hilfiger made a five-year $2 million commitment to Millennium Promise.[69] The donation went towards relief efforts in a Ugandan city, with the aim of improving residents’ access to necessities like clean water, education, and farming techniques.[70] In 2012, all philanthropic activities of The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation were renamed Tommy Cares, a wider-reaching global initiative that further integrates the brand’s non-profit partnerships, charitable contributions, and employee involvement.[71] On a global scale, Tommy Cares continues to support organizations such as Save the Children, the World Wildlife Fund, War Child,[72] and Millennium Promise.[72] Hilfiger and his wife are on the board of Autism Speaks as of 2012,[73] and through the organization, Hilfiger became a sponsor of the Golden Door Film Festival in September 2014.[74]

  Legal[edit]
  Main: Corporate responsibility at the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation
  Recognition[edit]
  For a similar list on the eponymous company, see Tommy Hilfiger corporate recognition.

  Supermodel Jessica Stam wears Tommy Hilfiger on the runway in 2008
  The following is a selected list of awards and recognitions for Tommy Hilfiger:

  1995: Council of Fashion Designers of America - Menswear Designer of the Year[28][29]
  1997: FiFi Awards - Men's Fragrance of the Year - Luxe, for the fragrance "Tommy"
  1998: Parsons School of Design - Designer of the Year Award[28]
  1998: GQ Magazine - Designer of the Year for 'Men of the Year' issue[28]
  2000: FiFi Awards - Best Marketing Innovation of the Year, for Toiletries for Tommy's (American running series)
  2002: GQ Germany - International Designer of the Year[28]
  2002: Drug Abuse Resistance Education - Future of America Award, for philanthropic efforts for American youth[28]
  2006: GQ Spain - Designer of the Year[28]
  2006: Harvard Foundation - Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian of the Year
  2006: We Are Family Foundation - Visionary Award[75]
  2007: Hispanic Federation - Individual Achievement Award[28]
  2008: Women’s Wear Daily - No. 1 Designer and No. 16 Brand in annual "100 List"[28]
  2009: UNESCO - UNESCO Support Award, for philanthropic efforts[28]
  2009: Marie Claire Magazine - Lifetime Achievement Award[28]
  2010: Pratt Institute - Legends Award[28]
  2012: Council of Fashion Designers of America - Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Anna Wintour[76]
  2015: Race To Erase MS - honored for commitment to finding a cure for MS[77]
  Style and impact[edit]

  A young Tommy Hilfiger customer in Azerbaijan wears the brand in 2013. His shirt displays a variation of the distinctive three-tone logo.

  The Tommy Hilfiger brand is an example of a designer label.
  While Hilfiger's earliest designs drew on 1960s counterculture and fashion, since the 1980s his designs typically draw from classic American New England styles. His initial lines for the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation were primarily designed to appeal to young men looking for designer clothing,[2] and Tommy Hilfiger became one of the most prominent brands in 1990s sportswear, with Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Nautica, DKNY,[78] and Donna Karan also popular.[79] Each of these companies created distinctive wardrobes based upon stylish but wearable, comfortable and interchangeable multi-purpose clothes, all with a focus on luxury.[79]

  Hip hop fashion at large began incorporating the Hilfiger brand in the 1990s,[78] and when Snoop Doggy Dogg wore a Hilfiger sweatshirt during an appearance on Saturday Night Live, it sold out of New York City stores the next day.[78] Moreover, Hilfiger courted the new hip hop market, and rappers like Puffy and Coolio walked during his runways shows.[78] Specific items like Tommy Hilfiger carpenter jeans became particularly popular, with the trademark logo displayed on the hammer loop.[78][better source needed] Hilfiger continues to maintain multiple fashion lines, some focused on wearable "casual" clothes while others take on various haute couture commissions. Aside from the preppy styles of his youth, Hilfiger has also always been influenced by the style of a wide variety of American icons, including Grace Kelly,[80] James Dean, Deborah Harry, Iggy Pop, Farrah Fawcett, Steve McQueen, Jackie and John F. Kennedy, and Andy Warhol.[81][82] Many of his designs draw prominently from the styles of hard rock and the pop music industry.[5][6]

  Personal life[edit]
  In 1976 Hilfiger met Susan Cirona, an employee at the People’s Place in Ithaca, and they married in 1980.[2] Together they have four children.[73] In 2003 Hilfiger's daughter Ally was part of the MTV reality series Rich Girls. His son, Richard ("Ricky Hil"), is a musician. After divorcing in 2000, on December 12, 2008, Hilfiger married his second wife Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger;[83] the couple had a son in 2009.[73]

  Publishing history[edit]
  Largely complete list of works authored by Tommy Hilfiger
  Yr Book Title Author(s) Publisher ISBN
  1997 All-American Hilfiger Universe ISBN 978-0789300508
  2000 Rock Style: A Book of Rock, Hip-Hop, R&B, Punk,
  Funk and the Fashions That Give Looks to Those Sounds Hilfiger, Anthony Decurtis Universe ISBN 978-0789303837
  2003 New England Style Hilfiger, Anna Kasabian Rizzoli ISBN 978-0847825837
  2004 New England: Icons, Influences and
  Inspirations from the American Northeast Hilfiger Rizzoli ISBN 978-0847826612
  2007 Grace Kelly: A Life In Pictures Hilfiger (foreword), Pierre-Henri Verlhac Pavilion ISBN 978-1862057760
  2009 Fashion Etcetera: Tommy Hilfiger Special Edition Hilfiger (foreword), Sam Haskins Private release ISBN 9789111187121
  2010 Tommy Hilfiger Hilfiger, Assouline Assouline ISBN 978-2759403134
  2011 Iconic America: A Roller Coaster Ride Through the
  Eye-Popping Panorama of American Pop Culture Hilfiger, George Lois Rizzoli ISBN 978-0789324054
  2016 American Dreamer: My Life in Fashion & Business Hilfiger, Peter Knobler Ballantine Books ISBN 978-1101886212
  Filmography[edit]
  Selected roles and cameos by Tommy Hilfiger[34]
  Yr Title Format Publisher Role
  2001 Zoolander Full-length film VH1 Films Cameo as himself[34]
  2005 The Cut Reality TV series CBS Main judge as himself[8]
  2008 Tommy Hilfiger Presents Ironic Iconic America Documentary film Rizzoli Co-host[42]
  2009 Project Runway Reality TV series Lifetime Guest judge on episode 5[34]
  2012 Project Runway: All Stars Reality TV series Lifetime Guest judge on episode 12[34]
  2012 American Idol Reality TV series Fox Fashion consultant[22]
  2016 Zoolander 2 Full-length film Red Hour Films Cameo as himself[34]

• Biography - https://www.biography.com/people/tommy-hilfiger-594098

  Tommy Hilfiger Biography.com
  Fashion Designer(1951–)
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  NAME
  Tommy Hilfiger
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  Thomas Jacob Hilfiger
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  American fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger created a brand of clothing that was extremely popular with several different communities in the 1990s.
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  Synopsis

  Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger was born on March 24, 1951, in New York. Hilfiger has built his brand, using his signature red, white and blue tag, which has become popular among the upper class and the casual buyer. Before making his immensely popular product, he opened several stores in the '70s. It wasn't until 1984, when he was approached to design a men's sportswear line with his name that he took off into the stratosphere of fame and fashion.

  Early Life

  Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger was born on March 24, 1951, in Elmira, New York, the second of nine children in a working class Irish-American family. His mother, Virginia, worked as a nurse, while dad Richard made watches at a local jewelry store. Tommy Hilfiger attended Elmira Free Academy in high school, where he was neither a star athlete (he was so small, he had to sneak 15-pound weights in his pockets to get on the football team) or student (he suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia).

  First Entrepreneurial Venture

  Hilfiger's entrepreneurial gifts, however, were evident from a young age. As a teenager, he began buying jeans in New York City that he remade and sold for a markup in Elmira. When he was 18, he opened a store called The People's Place in Elmira that sold hippie supplies like bell-bottoms, incense and records. Wildly successful at first-Hilfiger soon had a chain of stores and a six-figure income-a downturn in the economy hit his business hard, and he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1977.

  In 1976, Hilfiger fell in love with Susie Carona, an employee at one of his stores. The couple married and moved to Manhattan shortly after the bankruptcy. 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.

  Commercial Success

  In 1984, 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. "I think I am the next great American designer," Hilfiger told a reporter in 1986. "The next Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein."

  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 1990s, 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 1994 brought sales figures to an all-time high.

  Despite Hilfiger's commercial success, however, the fashion elite still snubbed him. In 1994, the year Hilfiger was the frontrunner for the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America Menswear Designer of the Year, CFDA decided not to give the prize at all. They, later relented, and gave it to him in 1995.

  Hard Times

  In 2000, 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. Worse than bad sales, the Tommy Hilfiger brand wasn't cool anymore. "The large logos and the big red, white and blue theme became ubiquitous," Hilfiger said. "It got to the point where the urban kids didn't want to wear it and the preppy kids didn't want to wear it." Hilfiger took a hard look at his company's mistakes and reworked the brand. In 2007, he signed an exclusive deal with Macy's to sell the company's best-selling lines only at their stores.

  Hilfiger married second wife, Dee Ocleppo, in December 2008, and the couple welcomed son Sebastian in August 2009. In May 2010, his once-again-profitable company sold for a whopping $3 billion to the clothing conglomerate Phillips-Van Heusen. He received the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Geoffrey Beane Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

  Today Hilfiger continues to be the principal designer of his brand, and there are more than 1,400 of his stores in 90 countries. In 2016, he took his "classic American cool" looks in a new direction. He partnered with Runway of Dreams to create a line of adaptive clothing for children with disabilities.

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• Independent - http://www.independent.ie/style/fashion/fashion-news/absolutely-ghetto-fabulous-tommy-hilfiger-on-how-his-critical-father-inspired-his-look-34561648.html

  Absolutely ghetto fabulous: Tommy Hilfiger on how his critical father inspired his look
  His parents and teachers wrote him off as stupid, but a combination of undiagnosed dyslexia and humble beginnings drove Tommy Hilfiger to succeed. The multi-millionaire fashion mogul tells our reporter how his tough, critical father inspired the Hilfiger label's iconic preppy look, how bankruptcy was the best business lesson he ever learned, and why he'd be just as embarrassed to see Hillary Clinton in the White House as Donald Trump

  Making his own rules: Tommy Hilfiger. Photo: Getty Images.6
  Making his own rules: Tommy Hilfiger. Photo: Getty Images.
  Barry Egan
  Barry Egan
  March 28 2016 2:30 AM

  There's time - and then there's Tommy time. You're on Tommy time from the moment the chauffeured-driven car picks you up at Gatwick Airport and deposits you, in some style, at an address in Knightsbridge.
  It is here that you are given the tour of the main man's grand London HQ, before another staff member asks the driver to wait to take you to the airport once your 50-minute meeting with the star of the show is complete. That star is Tommy Hilfiger - the man who made the preppy look ghetto fabulous.
  He arrives flanked by a team. It's like meeting an American presidential candidate.

  The 64-year-old with - as GQ magazine described it - "the Nantucket-meets-NWA [a hip-hop group] aesthetic" has a hipster aura that doesn't seem out of place for his age. He says things, too, that are way too edgy and left-of-centre, for the head of a global company worth billions (in 2006, Tommy Hilfiger was sold to venture capitalists Apax Partners for €1.4bn and, in 2010, it was subsequently sold by Apax to Phillips-Van Heusen for €2.2bn. Hilfiger himself remains the company's principal designer.)
  The Tommy Hilfiger signature colour palette of red, white and blue seems to signify something patriotic at some level about America and the American Dream.

  Yet, Tommy himself - admirably, like some of the rappers who wear his clothes - isn't shy about saying what he believes is wrong with America.
  "I think America has a lot of incredible aspects to it," he begins.

  "If you are looking to what America has donated to society - from Disney to Apple, from Hollywood to Muddy Waters, from Elvis to Marilyn Monroe; a lot of cool stuff. But as far as the Government is concerned, as far as meddling in areas they shouldn't be meddling in, it's embarrassing. It's not what I choose to do."
  I ask him if it would be more embarrassing to have Donald Trump as President of the United States of America.

  "Look," he says, "people are saying that about Hillary." [Presumably, Tommy means people are saying that it would be as embarrassing to have Mrs Clinton in the White House - again.]
  Could you imagine Trump dealing with Putin on foreign policy issues?

  "I can't imagine it!" Tommy laughs.
  "But, honestly, crazier things have happened. We never thought we'd have a black President. And Obama came right into office. But it's a bit of a mess, you could say."

  Who will you vote for?
  "I have no idea, because I don't like any of them. I really don't. I'm not impressed with any of them."

  He has a compelling charisma, I think you'll agree, this New Yorker with the rags-to-riches life story and a fondness for the music of Jimi Hendrix, The Stooges and the New York Dolls. And, unlike most multi-millionaires, Tommy is given to much salty self-deprecation.
  Ask him where he got the cojones, in 1985, to put up a giant billboard ad in New York's Times Square, on which he compared himself, a then-unknown designer, to Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, and he'll laugh at the memory.

  "I met this advertising genius, this older guy," Tommy recalls. "I told him for my first advertising [campaign] I was thinking about taking a model out on a beach and photographing the model, and having it really cool and relaxed."

  And what was his reaction to your great idea, Tommy?
  "He said, 'You're fucking crazy'."

  Tommy Hilfiger laughs like a broken drain in Manhattan.

  "He said, 'You're fucking crazy. Don't do that. It will take you years and years and years to get known, and you are going to look like everybody else - with a model, looking pretty, wearing a pair of jeans. It is not going to be different enough. You've got to do something really, really different in order to get your name known'."
  Tommy pauses, before adding with a laugh, "And then he said, 'Who the fuck can pronounce Hilfinger anyway?'

  "So this guy was like an old timer," Tommy Hilfiger continues. "I said to him, 'What would you do?' He showed this whole idea of an advertising campaign that compared my name to established names out there that were already known. I hesitated and said, 'I don't know'. I didn't have much money to do the advertising.'

  "He said, 'Look. I guarantee you that if we run this ad, your name is going to become as known as some of the big names overnight'. So we ran the advertising on a billboard in Times Square. The next day, people went crazy."
  (For the record, the "big names" on the ad, listed alongside Tommy Hilfiger, were Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, and Calvin Klein.)

  I point out to Tommy that, in an interview, he said about the aftermath of the ad: "The whole fashion world was beside itself. I was the laughing stock. It was the only time I thought I'd quit the business - or go hide somewhere."

  Tommy answers now that, at that time, people were saying, "'Who does he think he is? How could he compare himself to these greats? He never even went to design school'.
  "So at that point, I thought, 'You know what? I'm just going to make my own rules'. I just do what I want to do now. And I am not going to follow the crowd, or do what they expect me to do. I'm just going to make my own rules. So I started doing my own thing. Everybody was saying, 'In order to be a designer, you have to be very, very disciplined, to invent something innovative'."

  New York's Interview magazine was pretty much on the money in 2010 with a piece that noted: "Whether trafficking in flared jeans or designing country-club sportswear, Hilfiger has always had a knack for tapping into unexpected quarters of youth culture at just the right moment."

  I ask Tommy where that knack came from.
  "If there is something going on that's interesting, I like to have it become a part of my brand, whether it is music, sports, or movies," he says. "I grew up with eight brothers and sisters. I was the first boy, second child. Each one of my brothers and sisters would always bring friends to our house. So there were many, many different types of people around all the time, and that was interesting to me, because otherwise, if I had to just be with my brothers and sisters all the time, I'd be bored.

  "So I knew them all. And I liked sort of chaotic surroundings, with a lot of people, a lot of conversations. I was the one in the family who started bring records home."

  Asked where his love of music came from, he recalls seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. "I thought they were very cool," he smiles.
  Was that the defining moment of your life - was it what made you want to do something different with your life?

  "No. I think the defining part of my life was the fact that I was a terrible student, and there was no way I was going to go to university, because I wouldn't be able to get the grades.

  "What I found out later on," he adds, "what I didn't realise, was that I had a problem. And all of my teachers and my parents really thought that I was . . . I think they thought I was stupid. But what I found out later on was that I was dyslexic. I couldn't read. So I was faking it. And you can't fake reading to pass a test. I was really a terrible student."

  The teachers had no idea that they had a student in their classes who would make millions of dollars by identifying cultural shifts ahead of everyone else in fashion and put them into his clothes, I say.
  "I think they sort of wrote me off!" Tommy laughs.

  "So I figured, 'I have to do something, because I am not going to go to university. I'll never get a good job. I don't know what to do'. So when music came into my life, I wanted to be a part of it somehow. But I couldn't really play and I couldn't sing. So I wanted to look like a rock star of the 1970s.

  "When I started growing my hair long, and wore bell-bottoms and cool clothes," he recalls, "all of my school mates wanted to look like me. 'Where did you get those boots? Where did you get those jeans?' So I then opened a small shop with $150 I earned working in a gas station. It was a small shop. I called it People's Place. I started selling bell-bottom jeans; hippy-type clothes. That was 1969."

  What music were you listening to?
  "I loved Hendrix. I loved The Doors. The music was great, but I also loved the way the bands looked - and then, when David Bowie came around, I thought that was genius," Tommy says.

  "I loved the music, but also the look. You couldn't go in a store and buy 'rock' style clothes then."

  I say to him that I read that he hung out in two legendary fleshpots of 'sex and drugs and rock 'n roll' culture in New York in the 1970s - Studio 54 and Max's Kansas City.

  What are his memories of that?

  "I can't remember a lot!" he laughs.

  "Look, on any given night, you'd walk into Max's Kansas City and see Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, David Bowie, The Ramones, Debbie Harry from Blondie. You'd see all different types of people, and someone would play. A lot of the time, the New York Dolls or one of the punk bands would play, and then we'd go to Studio 54 and Stevie Wonder would be blasting."

  Was it as decadent as it seemed?

  "Yeah, yeah, it was decadent. It was crazy."

  He says that the experience of bankruptcy, however painful, was like an MBA. "Yeah, because I didn't really know what I was doing, business-wise, as a young boy having a store. So after a few years I didn't know how to run the business, as the business was growing, so I had a bankruptcy. I was 23. That taught me to, all of a sudden, really pay attention to the business. Then I thought, 'I really want my own brand'. I launched Tommy in 1985. I was 32."

  I've met Tommy Hilfiger before. I interviewed him in Paris in 2007. He took me out night-clubbing afterwards. He remembers the occasion. Nine years on, he is forthcoming, revealing a realness that he has hitherto kept hidden from the media.

  "Look," he says at one point, "it has not all been rosy. I've had financial problems. I've had a bankruptcy, as you know. That was early on. But later, on in order to get started, I needed money, so someone backed me and then they ran out of money. Then I was in a partnership with other people who absconded with money," laughs Tommy.

  "There were a lot of starts and stops. It wasn't, all of a sudden I started Tommy Hilfilger, and it just, like, exploded."

  Were there times when you didn't have two dollars to rub together?

  "Oh, yes."

  What was that like?

  "It was not easy, but I had faith in myself, and I knew that if I worked hard and I had an opportunity to prove myself, I could make money."

  How much are you worth?

  "Personally?"

  Yeah. If you went to the bank this minute, and said, 'I want it all out now - give me everything'. How much would that be?

  "A lot!" he laughs.

  You can't take it with you. Are you going to leave it to charity?

  "I have a lot of children. I have seven children. And I have an ex-wife and a wife," he laughs. (Tommy has four children by his first wife, Susie - Ally, Ricky, Elizabeth and Kathleen; while, with his second wife, Dee, he has young son, Sebastian.) "I also have eight brothers and sisters."

  You grew up with a big family. So did you subconsciously decide to have a big family yourself?

  "I don't know how it even happened. I had four with my first wife. I had one with my current wife . . . and she had two. So you put them all together - there's seven."

  What are you like as a dad?

  "I think I'm a good dad."

  What was your dad like?

  "Tough," he says of Richard Hilfiger, who was of Dutch-German descent.

  "I wanted to be supportive of my children and not be overly critical. My dad was a watchmaker. My dad was always very critical and didn't really . . ." Tommy pauses. "He thought I wasn't trying when I wasn't doing well in school."

  When you made a couple of million dollars, did his criticism of you lessen? He laughs.

  "He saw me when I started to become successful but then, he unfortunately . . . he passed away. I was 34."

  You were just starting to climb the ladder?

  "Yeah, but I think, also, growing up with very humble means drove me to become successful, because I knew that I could never become anything else."

  Nine kids in a house? You shared a room with your brothers?

  "We were all packed in."

  I'm curious about your father's influence. Was the preppy look that you designed based, even subconsciously, on him? You once said, 'My father dressed like Mr Ivy League, all tweed suits with regimental ties, Oxford shirts and wing-tipped shoes'.

  "Yeah," Tommy answers, "but as a boy growing up in Elmira, New York, we went to school wearing preppy clothes. But I really hated the preppy look. I wanted desperately to change it, and make it very cool. So I changed it and made it very cool; relaxed, nonchalant, irrelevant, colourful, full of interesting detail, and then the business starting growing."

  I ask him how Tommy Hilfiger captured the urban market and became - as Interview magazine described his rise - "the de facto status label of the hip-hop nation".

  "My brother really helped me do that. He knew all these guys. He knew that they were in awe of my clothes. I didn't know that. But I thought it was very cool. He came to me and said, 'These hip-hop kids really want to wear your clothes'. I said, 'Why don't we give them some clothes and let them wear the clothes on the streets, and see what happens?'."

  Is it true that when Snoop Dogg wore your clothes on the American TV show Saturday Night Live in 1994, sales of Tommy Hilfiger went up $9m that year?

  "Oh yeah," he smiles. "The surfers and the skateboarders and all the cool kids starting wearing my clothes.

  "They really loved the clothes. Up until that point, most of these kids were wearing adidas hook-ups, or Nike or Reebok - and that was it. Rap impresario Russell Simmons said, 'The reason they are wearing your clothes is because they want to look rich', because my clothes were New England, The Hamptons."

  Places they felt excluded from?

  "Exactly. So they wanted to look rich."

  How do you keep ahead of the game because there is always someone else coming along, isn't there?

  "That's the fun part," he says.

  "Because if one can think of what's next, you have an edge over the competition, because there is so much competition out there, from the Zaras to the H&Ms to the Guccis and Pradas.

  "So I'm always thinking what can we do next to be unique, different, relevant - and still cool, without losing the DNA. So we did [tennis star Rafael] Nadal and [supermodel and American IT girl] Gigi Hadid for next fall. We did the 'family' campaign. We did David Bowie and Iman. We did a Lenny Kravitz thing.

  "We did the sons and daughters of well-known rock stars - Sting's son, Rod Stewart's daughter, Mick 'n' Keith's children, Goldie Hawn's daughter, Quincy Jones's daughter. That set us apart.

  "This is when other fashion companies were photographing models in studios and on the beach," he says, jokingly referring back to his idea in 1985, which was fatefully and wisely dismissed by his adviser.

  "We decided to zig when they zagged, and do something very different. But I like doing something different, not only from the image point of view, but all the way down to what's inside that garment," he says, pointing, "See that coat? See the under-collar? I like the surprises in the details."

  What will be your legacy?

  "I would love to see this company go on forever, certainly, but I think it is important that my children, my grand-children, everyone, knows that in addition to making money and being successful, giving back has been paramount."

  Where did you get that from?

  "I really believe it was my mother, because my mother used to give food to the church; who gave to the poor," he says. "And when we weren't exactly rich ourselves, we would always look at others who were less fortunate, and reach out to them."

  What was your religious background growing up?

  "Catholic."

  You have Catholic guilt?

  "Probably!"

  What was your mother like?

  "She went to church every day," he says of Virginia, who was of Irish descent.

  "Only later on did we find out that the priest was stealing all the money that she was putting in the basket every week. But my mother was the type of person who would say, 'Well, he really didn't mean it'. She died seven years ago. She was just as proud of my brother who works on construction as she was of me."

  "I love life," Tommy Hilfiger adds, as he gets up to leave. "I am very grateful. I'm very happy. I feel that this is all icing," he says, smiling. "This is a gift to me, because it is all upside."

  The Tommy Hilfiger collections are available in the flagship store on Grafton St, Dundrum Town Centre, retailers nationwide and on tommy.com
  Sunday Indo Life Magazine

Tommy Hilfiger, Peter Knobler: AMERICAN DREAMER
Kirkus Reviews. (Oct. 1, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
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Tommy Hilfiger, Peter Knobler AMERICAN DREAMER Ballantine (Adult Nonfiction) 30.00 ISBN: 978-1-101-88621-2

A memoir from the famed fashion designer.Born in Elmira, New York, in 1951, Hilfiger had eight siblings and came of age during the 1960s, when bell-bottoms, fringed leather vests, sandals, and long hair on men were all the rage. Dyslexia, an abusive father, and a full household turned him into a dreamer from an early age, and his five sisters made him aware of the current fashions. While still in high school, Hilfiger and two of his friends opened a clothing shop in an unused basement and found success. After attending a boutique show in New York City, Hilfiger had an epiphany. "I had never given real thought to designing, he writes, but at that moment it came to me: This is what I want to do in life. I want to create a line of clothes. I want to be the one who picks the colors, the fabrics, who designs the pockets. "Of course, he went on to design far more than just one line of clothing, creating a global fashion empire in the process. Hilfiger's autobiography is typically full of family stories and candid assessments of his personal successes and failures. While chronicling the rises and falls of his various clothing endeavors, he openly discusses his early drug use and partying, his love of music, his father's abusive nature, his siblings, his marriage and subsequent children, his divorce, and his second marriage. His commentary provides a unique look into the fashion world and helps explain how clothing can make a statement based simply on a particular style of stitching or pocket design. The Tommy Hilfiger brand is known for its "preppy, all-American classics," and Hilfiger fits the bill for an American dreamer who succeeded in grabbing the American dream.

An honest, straightforward, mostly entertaining autobiography of the man who created a classic yet hip line of clothing.

"Tommy Hilfiger, Peter Knobler: AMERICAN DREAMER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Oct. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA465181841&it=r&asid=0d7f0c7815715c766fcb41658b572f0e. Accessed 9 July 2017.

• InStyle
  http://www.instyle.com/news/tommy-hilfiger-american-dreamer-memoir
  Word count: 364

  Tommy Hilfiger’s New Memoir Is a Fashion Lover’s Must-Read
  Tommy Hilfiger's New Memoir Is a Fashion Lover's Must-Read
  SIMON DAWSON/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES
  62 SHARES
  BY: JONATHAN BORGE
  OCTOBER 31, 2016 @ 3:45 PM
  You know you’ve made it when it’s time to publish a memoir.

  That’s what’s on schedule for designer Tommy Hilfiger, whose buzzy new book, American Dreamer ($21; amazon.com), hits stores tomorrow, Nov. 1. As the tome’s title suggests, Dreamer follows the 65-year-old clothes maker’s personal life, as well as his ascent into the world of fashion.

  So why was it time to whip all of his most treasured stories into one memoir? “After more than 40 years in the fashion industry, I wanted to record the memories behind my life and brand,” the designer said in a statement. “American Dreamer is a roadmap of the moments that have defined both my career and my personal life—from my childhood in Elmira, New York, to building a global business. I’m so excited to share my journey and I hope it can inspire others to pursue their dreams.”

  Yes, we’re eager to catch up on his biggest successes and failures—as well as learn a bit more about his too-chic wife, Dee Ocleppo, and five children (including Ally Hilfiger)—but we’re also looking forward to page-turning stories filled with A-listers, some of whom already love the book.

  Courtesy Tommy Hilfiger
  RELATED: 6 Reasons Why We Hope the Destiny's Child Reunion Rumors Are True

  “Tommy is an inspiration to many people. American Dreamer shows how he has managed to be successful in business and done so with integrity. I have come to know Tommy, and every time we talk I learn something new about creating a successful brand,” David Beckham said in a statement.

  VIDEO: 10 Celebs That Are Novelists and Children's Book Authors

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  We bet this is one book Hilfiger muse Gigi Hadid can’t stop reading. American Dreamer will be available on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at tommy.com and select Tommy Hilfiger stores.

• News OK
  http://newsok.com/article/3177811
  Word count: 447

  Book Review: ‘Iconic America' offers ironic view of America
  Oklahoman Published: December 7, 2007 12:00 AM CDT Updated: December 7, 2007 12:00 AM CDT
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  "Iconic America: A Roller-Coaster Ride Through The Eye-Popping Panorama of American Pop Culture by Tommy Hilfiger with George Lois (Universe/Rizzoli, 368 pages, $60).
  Our world today is one of fragments, niches, products, icons — this much is obvious. Far less evident to Americans as consumers is how these fragments — bit by bit, year by year — shape and add texture to our lives.
  For Tommy Hilfiger and "Superman of Madison Avenue” George Lois, though, the building blocks of modern American culture are not only objects of daily life but icons to be venerated visually and lusted after openly. You've heard of food porn? This is object porn, and the photos reveal everything from the Gettysburg address to Frankenstein's monster to a steaming pizza.
  Here, the cherry Life Saver becomes a fetish object and icon of modernism, rendered at five times its real size and shining like the fuselage of some scarlet fighter jet. The Morton Salt umbrella girl, Ted Williams, Rosa Parks, Bugs Bunny and Jiffy Lube become glossy family photos on the mantelpiece of the American brain. Faces — Mickey Mouse and Frank Sinatra, Mount Rushmore and Jimmy Durante and the Playboy centerfold (OK, maybe not her face) — take on profound meaning in the Chunky Soup of the American zeitgeist.
  What have we come to when we look deep into the national identity and find mere object lust? You could argue that we've reached a pinnacle, that American society has always been about acquisitiveness and obtaining capital, and that this catalog of the American soul is a fitting tribute.
  If you sweep aside legitimate questions about how far consumerism can and should go, "Iconic America” is a lovely book — the kind for which coffee tables were invented. Leaf through the pages of loving photography and clean, sans-serif capsule biographies of each object and you feel … well, American.
  Rarely has an Underwood No. 5 typewriter, scourge of so many 20th-century secretaries, looked so appealing as it does in this computer-age volume.
  Iconic. We keep coming back to that word — which, it's worth noting, is just one letter away from "ironic.” In a country where advertising is the secular religion, "Iconic America” offers up a visual Bible of our age.
  It elevates, glorifies, venerates our own creations — above even ourselves. But page after page, as it raises products to the heavens and compels us to kneel, the question unasked in all the exuberance cannot help but resonate: Are we worshipping false idols?
  — Ted Anthony,
  The Associated Press

• Pop Matters
  http://www.popmatters.com/post/iconic-america-by-tommy-hilfiger-and-george-lois-6000/
  Word count: 137

  Iconic America by Tommy Hilfiger and George Lois [$60.00]
  BY ERIK HINTON
  25 November 2007

  A beautifully matte behemoth, Iconic America is a direct analogue of the country it purports to characterize. One is a country that transforms people and things into icons through its cultural attunement, the other is a book that does the same thing simply by labeling these elements as icons. Viewed as such, the debate over the book’s intellectual worth becomes a debate over America’s reduction to hollow symbols. Maybe Iconic America is just a record of the memorable pictures of America’s history, and maybe the concept of America is but an amalgamation of icons, the prominence of which is more coincidence than composition. Let your cultural critic, with a penchant for the visual, ponder over this.

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