Building on the success of his first shop, People's Place, Hilfiger had established a chain of 10 speciality stores in upstate New York by the age of 26. Hilfiger was born March 24, 1951 and raised in Elmira, New York. Hilfiger grew up in an Irish family, and claims Scottish direct decent from Scotlands national Bard Robert Burns.Hilfiger would trek down to New York City to get his hands on jeans and bell-bottom pants which he customized and resold at a local downtown Elmira, New York store, Brown's.
Until the early Nineties, Hilfiger's market profile was similar to that for Calvin Klein: predominantly middle-class, middle-aged, mid-American white males.After turning to the design aspect of clothing by designing for the rest of his stores in upstate New York (a total of 10), Hilfiger moved to New York City with his now estranged wife, Susie. Although he was offered design assistant positions with designers Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis -- and was broke -- he turned them both down with greater plans in mind.
he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation (NYSE:TOM) in (1984) - which went public in 1992 - introducing his signature menswear collection. By 2004 the company had 5,400 employees and revenues in excess of $1.8 billion. Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1995.
In May 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.
Today the growing Hilfiger fashion empire, supplemented by fragrances and other merchandising spin-offs, is worth more than $400 million (£240m) a year.
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