124 SEPTEMBER 2019
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INSTANT CLASSICS
Ahead of Zendaya’s second collection with Tommy Hilfiger, to be shown at Harlem’s Apollo Theater,
Vogue selects the investment-worthy pieces from the line-up.VOGUE VIEWPOINT
TommyXZendaya
coat, $649.
TommyXZendaya
top, $139.TommyXZendaya
top, $229.TommyXZendaya blazer,
$449, and pants, 249.“ To m m y
of fers
guidance
b u t h e ’s a l s o
interested
in younger
perspectives.
He wants to
know what
I think is cool
or what I’m
interested in”Moodboards
and sketches for
Zendaya’s second
collection with
Tommy Hilfiger
(above left), with
a focus on 70s
power dressing.“And that’s all I had to say, and it happened,” Hilfiger verifies,
eyebrows raised, implicitly impressed by Zendaya’s savvy.
“Tommy offers guidance, but he’s also interested in younger
perspectives,” Zendaya continues. “He wants to know what I think is cool
or what I’m interested in. It would be easy for him – with his long career
and level of experience and knowledge of the industry – to be like: ‘I know
best’, but he nurtures young creativity. Which is actually how you have
a long career, by nurturing the people coming up under you.”
That evening, Zendaya displays not one butterfly of nervousness
ahead of sending out her debut fashion week collection in front of a
slew of editors as well as Tyra Banks, Janelle Monae and Gigi Hadid,
Tommy’s former global brand ambassador, all watching with
anticipation from the front row. Clearly her partnership with Hilfiger
was a natural fit, since the next range with the brand was already in the
works before the first one hit the runway.
So what can we expect for the autumn/winter ’19/’20 collection, set to
show at New York fashion week this month? “I heard spots ...” I posit,
waiting for their reaction. Zendaya and Hilfiger look at each other. “Am
I allowed to say things?” Zendaya asks dutifully of Hilfiger. “It will
show in Harlem,” Hilfiger reveals. “And there’s going to be lots of
tailoring,” Zendaya adds excitedly. “Expect a lot of suits, a lot of clean
lines, but in our own funky way.”
When Hilfiger first contacted Zendaya, she was window-shopping
with her assistant. “To be honest,” Zendaya says with a shrug, “I was
pretty sceptical. You know you get into those situations: people will
promise you the moon and the stars but when you get there it’s like: ‘Oh
well, here are the clothes, put your name on it and that’s how it’s going
to work.’ This wasn’t one of those situations.”
“After Gigi, we figured we had to find someone phenomenal,”
Hilfiger adds. “I just thought: ‘Zendaya’s so perfect for us.’ If she wants
to do what she wants to do, I’ll let her do that. I had other people in the
company say: ‘But what if she wants to do something really crazy? Are
you going to go back on your word?’ And I said: ‘I trust that somehow
she’s going to come up with a look and an idea that’s trendsetting for
us.’ And guess what?Voila!”
Turns out, Hilfiger did serve up the moon and stars – and Zendaya
made them shine. ■