Tommy Hilfiger Biography

Thomas Jacob Hilfiger (born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and founder of the lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.

Early life

Hilfiger was born in Elmira, New York. The second of nine children of a jeweler and a nurse, he is of German-Swiss and Irish descent, and was raised Catholic. Hilfiger also claims direct descent from the Scottish poet Robert Burns. His parents wanted him to get a college education and pursue a traditional career.

He attended the Elmira Free Academy for high school. He also attended GST BOCES Bush Campus in Elmira for machine shop trades.

Career

Rather than furthering his education, he started to work in retail at the age of 18. Hilfiger would go to New York City to buy jeans and bell-bottom pants, which he customized and resold at Brown's, a local downtown Elmira store.

He later opened his own store, named The People's Place, around the block in downtown Elmira. Over the years, a number of stores closed in downtown Elmira as shopping traffic shifted to the new Arnot Mall in Horseheads, New York. After seven years, The People's Place went bankrupt, when Hilfiger was 25. This is when he enrolled to study commerce. The site of the original store has since been demolished to make room for First Arena, home of the Elmira Jackals hockey team.

After turning to the design of clothing by designing for the rest of his stores in upstate New York, Hilfiger moved to New York City with his wife Susie. Although he was offered design assistant positions with designers Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis, he turned down the offers despite the fact that he was broke.

In 1985, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, (NYSE:TOM), with support from The Murjani Group, which went public in 1992, introducing his signature menswear collection. By 2004, the company had 5,400 employees and revenues in excess of $1.8 billion. Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995.

In 1993, Hilfiger was a sponsor for Pete Townshend's Psychoderelict tour.

In 1998, Hilfiger gave singer Aaliyah an endorsement deal, in which he honored her in his Summer 1998 fashion show in Jamaica.

In 1999, Hilfiger was listed as main sponsor for Britney Spears 1999 ...Baby One More Time Tour. His nephew, pop singer Michael Fredo was also a model and spokesperson for Tommy Jeans and was the opening act on Britney Spears' Baby One More Time Tour.

In 2001, Hilfiger signed a contract with Amy Lemons as spokesmodel for Tommy Jeans.

In 2005, a CBS TV reality show called The Cut tracked the progress of sixteen contestants as they competed for a design job with Hilfiger in similar fashion to Donald Trump's The Apprentice. In the end, Hilfiger chose Chris Cortez.

Largely due to declining sales, in 2006, Tommy Hilfiger sold his company for $1.6 billion, or $16.80 a share, to Apax Partners, a private investment company.

In March 2010, Phillips-Van Heusen, owner of Calvin Klein, bought the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation for $3 billion.

In March 2012, Hilfiger was announced as the fashion consultant on American Idol.

Personal life

Hilfiger has four children with his ex-wife, Susie: Alexandria ("Ally"); Richard, a rapper who goes by the name Ricky Hil and is signed to Warner Bros. Records; Elizabeth; and Kathleen. The two oldest have both spent time in Rehab; Ally, in 2003 after filming her MTV Series "RICH GIRLS", and Rich after being arrested for possession in August of 2010.

On December 12, 2008, he married his second wife Dee Ocleppo (Deniz Carolina Erbu?), former wife of Gianni Ocleppo, an Italian tennis player of the 1980s. On February 25, 2009, the New York Post reported that Ocleppo was three months pregnant. The couple had a son, Sebastian Thomas, in 2009.

Criticisms

Hilfiger has been criticized for having manufactured clothes in sweatshop conditions in the United States territory of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. As a U.S. Commonwealth, clothes made there can be labeled "Made in the USA", but federal labor laws, including the minimum wage, do not apply. In March 2000, the company, along with other defendants, settled a class action suit brought by Saipanese garment workers, which had alleged mistreatment by over 20 large U.S. clothing manufacturers.

Product lines

• Hilfiger Denim, a premium-upscale denim collection for men and women; designs are inspired by American classics and finished with a modern edge
• True Star Gold, fragrance created by Hilfiger and spokeswoman Beyonc Knowles
• True Star, another fragrance created by Hilfiger and with spokesperson Beyonc Knowles
• True Star Men, a fragrance created by Hilfiger with spokesperson Enrique Iglesias
• Tommy Girl, fragrance for women
• Red Label, a line of denim-themed products including jeans, T-shirts, and sweatshirts
• H by Tommy Hilfiger, an upscale line which was ended after Tommy Hilfger sold his company, the same sort of style is now carried on under the Tommy Hilfiger label in their specialty stores
• Tommy Hilfiger, the company line of clothes sold in department stores, company stores, and specialty stores
• Tommy Sport, a defunct line that came out in the 1990s and capitalized on Hilfiger's popularity in urban areas
• Tommy Hilfiger for the Home, a line of bedding and bath products
• Tommy Sailing, was due to be released in January or February 2007
• Tommy, a brightly colored casual line
• Tommy Jeans, a denim inspired clothing collection and corresponding fragrance
• Hilfiger Athletics, a sport inspired clothing line and fragrance