Interview date: 09/30/2008
Run date: 10/03/2008
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Tommy Hilfiger may be a brand name, but let us not forget that it’s also the name of the man responsible for creating that brand. Although he’s no longer the owner of the firm, Hilfiger still maintains a significant presence within the organization which bears his name (not to mention a considerable amount of their stock), so when the idea was presented for the company to produce a special for the Bravo network – “Ironic Iconic America,” airing Oct. 3rd – it didn’t take a lot of arm-twisting to get Hilfiger to make an on-camera appearance. Bullz-Eye had the opportunity to speak with Hilfiger while he was enjoying the sunshine in Beverly Hills, and we asked him about his time on “The Cut,” his cameo in “Zoolander,” where he stands in the pantheon of pop culture, and what’s up with men’s fashion today. Probably the coolest thing, however, was just seeing the name “Tommy Hilfiger” come up on our caller ID.
Bullz-Eye: Hello?
Tommy Hilfiger: Hey, Will? Tommy Hilfiger.
BE: Hey, how are you, sir? It’s a pleasure to speak with you.
TH: I’m good, thanks, and it’s my pleasure.
BE: I’m going to open with an unlikely greeting: the niece of your high school math teacher, Bobby Hill, says to say, “Hello.”
TH: (Laughs) Okay, well, say “hello” on my behalf!
BE: She’s actually the wife of David Medsker, one of our other editors here at Bullz-Eye.
TH: Oh, great!
BE: Well, I watched the special, and it was very entertaining.
TH: Thank you!
BE: In your brief appearance, it was like you were M, sending a pair of secret agents off on a top-secret mission.
TH: Well, it was a real journey across America, and with a sense of humor and a little bit of glamour, it all worked out.
BE: How did it come about? Did someone come to you with the pitch, or did you indeed have a hand in the creation of the concept?
TH: Well, you know, we did a book called “Iconic America,” and it really was very well received, and we did it as a result of wanting to show the positives in America and show all of the great things that we’ve established and brands we’ve created. So, therefore, we decided to put it into a TV show, and we needed a host, so we hired one (Rives) who was really setting out to take a supermodel who’s not from America (Bar Refaeli) around America, to show her a different view of it.
BE: They indicate in the narration that they were friends with you beforehand. Did you have passing acquaintances with both of them?
TH: No, I’d known Bar (Refaeli) before, but I met Rives through this journey and through this project. But it all worked out, because the chemistry between them was great.
BE: I presume you’ve seen the special yourself by now. What’s your favorite of the trips that the two ended up undertaking?
TH: I thought the trip to the candy factory was very interesting. I loved that they went to Philadelphia and tried all of the cheesesteaks, so that they sort of ate their way through America, and I loved the Las Vegas scene, but I think the most memorable visual in my mind was when they were riding down Sunset Strip in L.A. in a red Cadillac.
BE: I have to ask: have you ever been to the Sex Museum that they visit during the special?
TH: (Laughs) I have never been to the Sex Museum. I think that’s not somewhere I would visit. I’ll leave that up to them.
BE: You’ve taken a few other dips into TV in the past, including your reality series, “The Cut.” What took you down that path? Were you a fan of reality TV?
TH: CBS asked me to do “The Cut” a few years back, and I decided to do it, but by the time we had filmed 13 episodes, I was finished. I really didn’t love standing in front of a camera seven days a week. Initially, I thought it was maybe going to be three days a week, but it turned into a full-time job…and I actually have another day job!
BE: Did you feel self-conscious in front of the camera, or was it just the amount of time it took?
TH: No, it was just a lot of time, and a lot of moving the camera and the lighting around. It was a big project.
BE: I know at the time that the show wasn’t intended to be purely about apparel design but also about branding, pop culture, and lifestyle design. Do you think it achieved that?
TH: Well, I think that any show helps with branding. It’s always for me about pop culture.
BE: Have you kept track of Chris Cortez, the show’s winner?
TH: Yeah, he’s doing his own line. He’s creating a line for Barney’s now, in New York. He’s a very talented guy.
BE: You also make the occasional talk show appearance. Is that a circuit you enjoy visiting, and do you have a favorite host?
TH: Yeah, every once in awhile we do a talk show, depending on if we have a new collection coming out or a new project we’re working on.
BE: Is it a grind for you, or do you just figure it comes with the territory?
TH: I enjoy some of it. Oprah I enjoyed, and I love Rosie. I’ve done a few different ones, and if you get a good host, it’s a lot of fun.
BE: As long as we’re talking TV, I visited the TommyTV website.
TH: Right. Of course, that’s internet TV, but it’swhere we sort of celebrate our Hilfiger Sessions, the live sessions with different musicians.
BE: Have you attended any of those performances yourself?
TH: Oh, yeah! I’ve been to quite a few of them. I went to one in Stockholm, one in Amsterdam, one in New York…and I just missed the one in London. They’re very good.
BE: I know Fred Gehring (CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Group) was quoted when the site first debuted as saying that “music and fashion go hand in hand.” Who are some of your favorite fashion icons from the music business?
TH: Well, I think music and fashion have gone hand in hand for many years, and I think if you look at the super groups from the ‘60s, I think they helped establish a whole fashion trend that is inspirational to designers even now.
BE: Is there anyone currently who’s a fashion template?
TH: Well, I think currently that musicians aren’t quite as inspirational from a fashion standpoint. I think they’re really inspiring themselves by way of groups from the past. Every guitar player loves Jimi Hendrix and the way he dressed, every singer loves Mick Jagger and the way he’s dressed over the years, female singers love Janis Joplin and have always loved Diana Ross. Madonna is probably the closest current female vocalist who does exhibit fashion.
BE: I was glancing online at a New York Magazine article where your daughter said of you, “We call him the Godfather. He helps us make everything stronger and better.”
TH: (Laughs) Well, I don’t know about that, but, you know, as the father of four children, I try very hard to set good examples and guide them in the right direction.
BE: It seems like Ally has come a long way since MTV’s “Rich Girls.” In particular, she seems to be carving herself a nice niche in the art world.
TH: Yes, she’s very creative and talented, and I’m supporting her, hoping that she’ll venture into the design business. (Laughs) She’s planning on it, so we’re excited about that.
BE: And your son, Rich Hil, is a rapper on the Full Surface label. Would you have expected that the Hilfiger DNA contained the rapping gene?
TH: Well, his music has evolved more into R&B. He’s working with a number of different musicians and collaborators, but, yeah, it’s more of a pop-R&B mix.
BE: You popped up in “Zoolander.” Did you enjoy the way Ben Stiller poked fun at the fashion and modeling industries, or did it hit too close to home on occasion?
TH: No, I thought “Zoolander” was good. When they asked me to do a cameo, I said, “Why not? As long as it doesn’t take too much time.” So I agreed to do it, and my children got a kick out of it, and every once in awhile, somebody will say, “I saw you in ‘Zoolander’!”
BE: How much time did it take you to film your part?
TH: Not very long at all. Just a couple of hours.
BE: As far as your career in the fashion industry, since you can’t always trust Wikipedia, I was just wondering if it’s true that you were offered design assistant positions with Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis but you turned them down because you had bigger plans?
TH: Yes, it is.
BE: Was there any point after you did that where you wondered if maybe you’d made the wrong decision?
TH: No, I really wanted to have my own brand. I worked for a couple of other people prior to that, in order to get an understanding and learn something about the manufacturing part of it, but I always wanted my own brand.
BE: What’s your status within the Tommy Hilfiger organization these days? I know you sold the company in 2006, but are you still there on a day-to-day basis even now?
TH: Yes. I oversee the image and the creative, and I’m still one of the largest single individual shareholders within the company.
BE: Bullz-Eye is a guy’s site. Can you offer some thoughts on current trends in men’s fashion?
TH: I think it’s more about comfort and luxury than anything else. I think that especially men would prefer to be comfortable rather than fashionable, but, of course, style is important, so as long as it’s at least somewhat stylish without going overboard.
BE: Where do you see yourself in the pantheon of pop culture? I mean, your name is known to people who may not even own a single item of clothing from any of your lines. That’s quite an accomplishment.
TH: Well, I think that pop culture is really the catalyst to moving the needle in society. I think pop culture connects young people globally, and if it weren’t for music, fashion, and entertainment, maybe we wouldn’t be so connected with the rest of the world.
BE: I know they just released a documentary about Karl Lagerfeld. Do you dread the day that someone might decide to do a full-length film about your life and times, or do you look forward to it?
TH: Well, you know, when I’m Karl’s age and they decide to do a documentary, then it’ll be okay. (Laughs) But I think I’m many years away from it.
BE: One last thing: while the budget of a writer doesn’t always lend itself to high fashion, I’d just like to go on record as saying that I have a Tommy Hilfiger t-shirt that is one of the most comfortable t-shirts I’ve ever worn in my life…and I’ve owned a lot of t-shirts.
TH: Thank you very much. That’s a real compliment.
BE: Seriously, though, do you feel like you’ve accomplished something when an everyman, rather than someone who’s into high fashion, and says, “Wow, this is exactly what I wanted”?
TH: Yeah…and, really, high fashion isn’t my game. High fashion, to me, is sort of focused toward the very select group of people. I’m more focused toward a broader mix of people.
BE: Anything else you’d like to mention beyond the special?
TH: Well, we’re opening a big store on 5th Avenue in New York City in the next couple of months, and we’re opening a big store in Miami. We’re really enjoying ourselves and having a lot of fun. There’s always a new venture, and always something new and different.