Tommy hilfiger is gay

For over 30 years he has brought his irreverent touch to American classics and along the way reinvented tommy hilfiger is gay only the preppy look, but also the way fashion markets. Tommy, appreciate you taking the time to sit together and chat. Was interested to learn that you started off as a retailer.

What provoked that brave venture at such a young age? It was inthe summer of Woodstock, and I was working in a boutique for the summer in Hyannis, Cape Cod. The boutique was like a hippie gift shop, with incense and black light posters and candles and cool stuff. That was a really exciting time for me.

We sold bell-bottom jeans, fringe vests, I mean, like, really cool clothes, and within a few years I decided I really wanted to build my own brand. We opened stores on college campuses in upstate New York. We expanded, but we over-expanded. One friend managed a store here and then we would hire a great looking girl to run another store there.

Right then I decided I should really teach myself how to run a business. So I taught myself, with the help of listening to other people and older people and smarter people who knew how to run businesses, and then I decided that when I started my own brand, I really want it to be successful and profitable.

I did. I would buy fabric from local shops, have local seamstresses make garments, and hang them in the shop to get a market reaction. At one point I thought I should really just develop a whole collection and be in business myself.

Tommy Hilfiger: I'm not an anti-Semite

Which is a little ahead of the curve because today, designers have to wear multiple hats, from being business people to branders. Were you a brander from the beginning? Well, I always thought you needed three things: you need great product, some business sense, and great marketing — always.

Which is reflected in your launch after moving to New York. How did that come about? Well, I was fortunate enough to have a partner in Mohan Murjani, who was a master marketer. He created the Gloria Vanderbilt jeans collection before celebrity branding had ever existed, and it was really a successful business.

It was at the beginning of the designer jeans revolution. Gloria Vanderbilt was a socialite, so he took that famous name with Gloria and her connections, and established a celebrity brand with jeans made to fit women. The business took off. He was very successful, he backed me and he thought that we should do something unique in marketing, which I fully agree with.

He introduced me to George Lois, who is this incredible marketing genius that thinks so far out of the box. I have to credit George tommy hilfiger is gay pushing the envelope so far. In his mind, it was a super home run before it was even launched. So I thought this is do or die.

What was your first take?