AS specially remixed tracks by the Clash and Franz Ferdinand jangled the
porcelain-capped teeth of New York’s fashion glitter-ati, Tommy Hilfiger
stepped on to a vast catwalk strewn with artificial trees.
His appearance in the Hammerstein ballroom on Friday night was the first time
the American designer had closed New York fashion week and the first time in
almost two years that he had staged a catwalk show anywhere.
He may have been wearing his trademark blue blazer, jeans and white shirt but,
behind him, two dozen models showed off his new “modern classic” clothes,
including a pearl-encrusted midnight-blue cocktail dress and a Donegal Tweed
Tuxedo with black silk lapels. There was no Ali G-style red, white and blue
sportswear in da house.
Hilfiger, 55, is reinventing his label. The one-time king of street fashion
wants to be a lord of catwalk chic. “This is a new chapter. I have a totally
different perspective,” he said backstage. “We are rethinking where we
belong in the world of fashion, going more upscale, more sophisticated.”
Out go rappers in logo-heavy athletic kit. In comes the urbane figure of
Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, modelling modern tailoring in luxurious
fabrics, and R&B singer Beyoncé in a pale blue full-length silk evening
gown.
Hilfiger describes his new collection as “more classic, refined, more
luxurious and well-thought out. It is without logos, without the red, white
and blue, without a lot of bells and whistles. We are more dressed-up.”
The same goes for Hilfiger stores. In Britain the former London flagship in
Bond Street was decorated with bright red electric guitars, but the new £5m
Regent Street store that opened just before Christmas is all dark wood and
matt black walls. “In London we have opened a very nice store, selling very
nice clothes, in a very nice area,” said Hilfiger, mimicking a posh British
accent.
Trading-up is a sharp change of strategy for a man who splashed his giant
all-Ameri-can logo over so many baggy jeans and cotton sweatshirts in the
1990s that Los Angeles rapper Snoop Dogg acclaimed him in a song as “my
nigga”. Why is Hilfiger going back to his preppy roots?
He has no choice. He may have hit pay dirt in the 1990s, but the music stopped
a few years ago when it became clear that the publicly-owned firm had
expanded too fast and the label had lost its cachet.
“It was a classic case of overexposure,” he conceded. His clothes, which were
sold in almost 2,000 American department stores and discount outlets, got
“lost in a sea of mark-downs and sales”.
As competition increased, with new American designers such as Sean John, Roca
Wear and Abercrombie & Fitch targeting the urban youth market, Hilfiger
hit his autumn/ winter of discontent. Annual American earnings slumped by
nearly half, from almost £1 billion in 2000 to about £500m in 2005. Two
years ago the company, in which he had a 10% stake, was put up for auction.
Desperate to stop the firm falling into the hands of one of America’s giant
retail groups, Hilfiger cooked up a rescue package with new chief executive
Fred Gehring.
He convinced private-equity group Apax Partners to lead a £800m buyout and
adopt a drastic restructuring.
Hilfiger himself netted £32m, but the real prize was not cash — he is now back
in full
control of the collection. As he made last-minute changes to the models’ looks
last week, demanding the silver-grey herringbone trousers “here” and asking
his English stylist Charlotte Stockdale to let down model Anna Ilnitskaya’s
hair “there”, he explained: “As a private firm, we are more creative,
innovative, enterprising. We do not have to worry all the time about what
will sell and sell fast to meet strict quarterly targets to please
shareholders.”
Freed from Wall Street shackles, Hilfiger has dumped the logo-heavy look and
some cheap sub-brands, notably childrenswear and the junior jeanswear teen
collection that “were there for volume only” and were tarnishing the label’s
image.
He cancelled catwalk shows “because I was not confident that the clothes in
America were runway-worthy; they were too depart-ment-store orientated”. He
slashed the American workforce by 40% and closed dozens of stores and
concessions.
His absence from the catwalk enabled him to plan for the long term — for the
first time since he founded his business selling jeans out of the boot of
his VW Beetle more than 30 years ago.
“It was great being away because it gave me a chance to regroup with my new
partners. It was a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sit back, take
a look at the world around and figure out where we belong,” he said.
Hilfiger is convinced that a smaller firm, turning out less glitzy
collections, will mean higher-quality clothes that will appeal to older,
wealthier customers who are prepared to pay higher prices.
And he has the figures to prove it. Ironically for the ultimate, all-American
brand, the inspiration for the new business plan comes from Europe. The
firm’s European arm, which Gehring ran from Amsterdam before becoming chief
executive, has always been semi-independent of its parent.
A few years ago Gehring introduced upmarket styles similar to those on the
catwalk on Friday.
While the American business was on the rack, European sales, especially on the
Continent, began rising sharply. Turnover grew from £200m in 2003 to more
than £400m last year. “Europe has been a learning experience for us, so here
we are now in America,” said Hilfiger.
The change of style may be working in Europe, but there is no guarantee that
it will appeal to a generation of American customers who have grown up with
Tommy-branded sportswear. Analysts say Hilfiger will have a tough time
slugging it out in the upper part of the American market, which is dominated
by the likes of Ralph Lauren.
Hilfiger insisted: “A lot of brands have gone through a lot of different life
cycles. Ver-sace was one thing in the 1980s, it changed in the 1990s and now
is something else.
“We’re more fun than Ralph Lauren, more relaxed, rebellious and cooler. Ralph
is very traditional. We are not stuck in the mud trying to be the American
designer brand.”
Observers say there is no guarantee that growth here will continue. In
Britain, in particular, retailing is becoming more competitive with
high-street brands, notably Zara, H&M and Topshop, pioneering fast
fashion.
The newly upmarket designer loftily dismisses brands that were once his
rivals, describing them as cheap and not-so-cheer-ful. “There will always be
people who wanta BMW and those who want a Ford,” he said. “I would rather
build a great BMW than be on the lower end, lowering quality to get better
prices.”
Apax, the private-equity house that controls 80% of Hilfiger, has given the
designer and Gehring five years to restore the label to its former glory.
Hilfiger insists “the first few months of the new project have been
affirmative. The market is responding very well.” But he declined to give
any figures.
He did say, however, that 50 new store sa year will open in Europe over the
next three years and new, full-price, standalone designer stores will open
across America. A new women’s fragrance, called Dreaming, will be launched
this autumn.
The applause for his show still filled the Hammerstein ballroom as Hilfiger
took a bow on Friday night and strode off the catwalk into the freezing New
York night. “We’re setting trends again,” he grinned.
And, with that, he brushed his hair back, sank into a limousine and headed off
to host a private party at the ultra-fashionable Bungalow 8 nightclub with
Lenny Kravitz and Justin Timberlake.
He and his firm may be leaner and more buttoned-up, but there is still some
bling left in the comeback king.
