How Tommy Hilfiger Is Reimagining His Brand

At New York Fashion Week this September, Tommy Hilfiger transformed the South Street Seaport into a public carnival, complete with a 40-foot Ferris wheel, arcade games, and cotton candy. Hilfiger, in collaboration with model Gigi Hadid, designed a “see now, buy now” collection that was unveiled on a runway on “Tommy Pier,” to the delight of more than 2,000 screaming fans. Their excitement reverberated on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. “The show garnered over 2 billion impressions on social media,” Hilfiger tells Fast Company. “The whole idea is that through social media, you really have the opportunity to keep your brand young.” In the three decades since Tommy Hilfiger founded his eponymous label, the fashion landscape has changed beyond recognition. In the ’80s, Hilfiger telegraphed his brand of preppy American luxury through swanky stores and ads in glossy magazines. But Hilfiger, who continues to serve as the brand’s principal designer, says that the strategies that once launched the brand into stratospheric success need to be reimagined for the digital age. He’s been thinking carefully about how a fashion house can evolve and speak to a new generation of consumers without eroding its identity. Read more at Fast Company.