“I would really like the company to be
remembered as generous, caring, loving and
kind,” says Tommy Hilfiger, smiling down a
Zoom screen from under a navy baseball cap.
Not adjectives one would necessarily expect
from a fashion designer who is also a house-
hold name, but he isn’t your average million-
aire. A father of seven (more on that later),
philanthropist and pillar of American fashion,
Hilfiger, 70, has more than 16,000 employees,
2,000-plus stores worldwide and a net worth
of $450 million. He started using A-list
ambassadors before the idea was snapped up
by marketing departments, embraced music
subcultures and has designed unisex collec-
tions. It all makes him a worthy recipient of
the British Fashion Council’s outstanding
achievement award, which he will receive at
tomorrow evening’s glitzy Fashion awards
at the Royal Albert Hall.
Hilfiger’s rags-to-riches story exemplifies
the American dream. A plucky, can-do kid
who decided to start a fashion company with
$150 earned from a part-time job at a petrol
station, he went on to build an empire out of
an urban sportswear look a million miles from
his working-class Irish Catholic background.
‘I wanted to be a
rock star, but
I was tone deaf ’
So instead, with just
$150 and no formal
training, Tommy Hilfiger
started a fashion
company that is
now worth billions. On
the eve of receiving
an outstanding
achievement award,
the 70-year-old tells
Jane McFarland why
he’s not stopping yet
28 • The Sunday Times Style