King of his castle

Over four decades of marketing Americana to the world, Tommy Hilfiger has never strayed too far from the fundamentals. And that just might be the secret sauce.

- ROCHELLE PINTO

Tommy Hilfiger only launched his eponymous label in 1985, but to hear the man himself tell it, he was ready to set up shop in India five years earlier. "I was making a lot of clothes there (while working as a designer for other brands, including Jordache). The staff were between the ages of 18-30 and they all wanted the clothes," he recalls. “So I thought if I open a store, they'll come and they'll bring their friends and family." It would take him another 24 years to successfully follow through, becoming the first American designer label to do so. In the decades since, Hilfiger's confidence in that early gut feeling has only burgeoned. "The influence the Indian youth have on the world is growing, and I think they're moving faster than the Chinese—in tech, entrepreneurship and in just about everything that’s going on,” he says.

Embodying what’s cool is the linchpin of brand Tommy Hilfiger, and its founder has a bloodhound’s nose for sniffing that out. Over 40 years, he has crafted a recipe that he believes will help his brand stay relevant: make the right product, market it properly, embrace diversity, understand the needs of the consumer and keep evolving. “I am always thinking of what is next. I ask my team that every day,” he explains. “We’ve always pushed forward with style and marketing presence.”