American Fashion master Tommy Hilfiger sold his clothing empire last year to Apax Partners after a slow down in sales. Now, according to Hilfiger, he intends to make a comeback.
Hilfiger was the first to take his fashion empire to the stock exchange, to blend and merge rock and fashion together and bring designer clothes to the masses. His main complaint has been that what he has done was so good that everybody copied him and eventually offered it cheaper.
Now after being in the business for almost 30 years, he seems to be back at his best. He is now opening a string of stores around the world, creating new designs and now has customers clamoring for his products once again. “I feel a great buzz today. I feel I am back in the big time.”
In a rare interview with Anil Bhoyrul he talks about what happened and where he is going. He also talks about what he perceives to be what brought him his success:
“The secret of fashion is you design something that pushes the right buttons. It’s comfort, it’s fit, it’s quality, it’s attitude. It is surrounding the brand with the right vibe. I think that attaching ourselves to pop culture the way we have has given us a tremendous edge. I like to link it with FAME – fashion, art, music, entertainment. When we link that together, it is really the spice of life. It is what makes the world go around, it makes the clock tick. It’s Hollywood, it’s entertainment, it’s celebrity. It’s all of that attached to a brand, to pull the brand forward. Otherwise a brand is a brand. Without some sort of edge, it becomes plain vanilla, almost boring.”
I wonder if Tommy can do it again? What do you think?
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