Tommy Hilfiger

History:
Tommy Hilfiger was born on March 24, 1951 and bought up in Elmira, New York. Hilfiger was from an Irish Catholic family, and the eldest son. He did his high schooling from Elmira Free Academy, and thus stopped it all the way after. Started working in retail when he was 18. Hilfiger would trek down to New York City to get his hands on jeans and bell-bottom pants which he customized and resold at local Elmira, New York Store, Brown’s.

Own Business:

the People’s PlaceHilfiger later opened his own store in downtown Elmira, named The People’s Place. The store had a minimum business although being on the hot spot for teens. Over the years, many stores in downtown shifted to Arnot Mall in HorseHeads, New York. It wasn’t long before for the people’s place to become another casualty. It later went bankrupt.

Hilfiger after entering into the design aspect of clothing headed to New York City with his now estranged wife, Susie. He was offered design assistant positions with Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis, though he turned them both down with greater plans ahead in mind.

1998- Hilfiger gave Singer Aaliyah her endorsement deal in which he was honored to have her in his Summer 1998 fashion Show in Jamaica.

2006- Hilfiger had a close encounter with Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose at the Plumm in New York City. Hilfiger reportedly took a couple of swings at Axl Rose for moving his girlfriend's drink, before being carried away kicking and screaming by his own security guards. Club owner Noel Ashman stated, "Axl was a gentleman and had the good sense not to retaliate as he would have done some serious damage to Hilfiger." Later that night, Rose dedicated the song "You're Crazy" to "My good friend Tommy Hilfiger."

Tommy sold his company to Apex Partners an investment company for $1.6 billion.

Family: Hilfiger has four children’s and is currently dating Dee Ocleppo.

The sweatshop crisis:

Hilfiger has been criticized for manufacturing clothes in sweatshops conditions in the United States territory of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.

Products:

Tommy Hilfiger is a premium global lifestyle brand, covering a range of major product lines and categories organized by various divisions: Menswear, Womenswear, Childrenswear, Denim, Sport, bodywear and other various licensed products such as fragrance, accessories and home furnishings.

1. True Star- a fragrance created by Hilfiger and with spokesperson Beyonce Knowles.

2. True Star Men- a fragrance created by Hilfiger and with spokesperson Enrique Iglesias.

3. Red Label- a line of denim-themed products including jeans, t-shirts, and sweatshirts.

4. 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.

5. Tommy Hilfiger- the company line of clothes sold in department stores, company stores, and specialty stores.

6. Tommy Sport- a defunct line that came out in the 1990s and capitalized on Hilfiger's popularity in urban areas.

7. Tommy Hilfiger for the Home- a line of bedding and bath products.

8. Tommy Sailing- was due to be released in January or February 2007.