6 life lessons from the inimitable Tommy Hilfiger

At the 2021 Fashion Awards at London’s Royal Albert Hall ensuing month, Tommy Hilfiger will be presented with the Outstanding Achievement Award, a prestigious accolade that has also been handed to the likes of Miuccia Prada, Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld. “ I ’m definitely pinching myself,” the fabulous American formulator tells Vogue. “ It’s an honour to be included in a hall of fame with so multiple other unbelievable flairs.” 

credit: third party image reference

To celebrate his Outstanding Achievement award, Vogue asked the formulator to partake the 6 life assignments that helped him on the road to success.

If it’s truly your life’s dream, you can start a fashion empire with $150

“ When I was a adolescent teen, I would take a trip into New York City, five and a half hours from my home, to find great clothes. When I wore them to academe, all of my amigos wanted to know where I was getting everything, so at that point in time, I decided I should open my own shop. I started my business with$ 150 that I ’d saved from working at a gas station.” 

credit: third party image reference

Don’t like something? Turn it on its head and make it your own

“ Growing up, I allowed preppy clothes were boring, so I decided to make them cool by making them handsome and polychromatic, as well as marrying them with sportswear. When I started Tommy Hilfiger in 1985, I was embraced by the youth right out, because I was doing individuality different to what they had seen anteriorly. We were the first formulator tag to go public in the early ’90s, and either we expanded all over the world.” 

Learning how to please the consumer is vital to running a business

“ You can have the most visible name in the world, as well as unimaginable marketing and advertising, but if you do n’t have a great product that consumers want, you ’re out of business. It’s got to look great, but if it does n’t fit well, it'll nowisesell.However, either youthful people wo n’t buy it, If it’s tooexpensive.However, people will move on, If you aren't on trend.” 

credit: third party image reference

Clock the brightest stars before they really shine

“ We were doing a show in New York and our VJ cancelled, so my cousin Andy introduced me to an all- girl music group to perform instead. We dressed them in boys’clothes, because we did n’t have womenswear at the time, and thereafter I asked my cousin who the one in the middle was — who had the most implausible voice — and he said to me that her name was Beyoncé. We formed a relationship with her, and ultimately she got the face of our True Star attar.” 

For a collaboration to be successful, it has to truly be a team effort

“ At the nascence of my career, one of my favourite schemes was with Aaliyah, because it was really a collaboration. From either, I decided we should work with farther people with distinct aesthetics. We brought in Gigi Hadid, who had a Southern California style and a fresh all-American look, and we actually let her design the clothes. We enclosed her with the right people who helped bring it to life, and that was a huge success. We did the same with Zendaya, Lewis Hamilton and Indya Moore. Plus farther to come.” 

Never compromise on brand identity, but be open to exploring new avenues

“ When the stylishness hop community started wearing my clothes in the late ’80s, early ’90s, I was really the first to do streetwear, and people did n’t know what to make of it because it was large and bright, with enormous symbols. Yea though it felt entirely new at the time, it still had a preppy backbone to it, which it still does. I continually use the same factors to keep the brand DNA perfect, but (I ’m) always looking to make it fresh.”