Tommy Hilfiger

Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfiger was born March 24, 1951. Raised in Elmira, New York, the second of nine children, he grew up in an Irish-American family. His parents originally intended for him to be an engineer. He attended Elmira Free Academy for high school. Rather than furthering his education, he started to work in retail at the age of 18. Thomas Jacob Hilfiger would go to New York City to buy jeans and bell-bottom pants, which he customised and resold at a local downtown Elmira store, Brown's. Tommy Hilfiger has five children with his ex-wife Susie. He married his second wife, Dee Ocleppo, former wife of Gianni Ocleppo, famous Italian Tennis player of the 1980s, on December 12, 2008. Tommy Hilfiger and wife Dee Ocleppo welcomed a baby boy.

He later opened his own store, named The People's Place, around the block in downtown Elmira. Although the store was a hot spot for teens with frequent contests and live DJ appearances, there were often more people hanging out than shopping. After seven years, The People's Place went bankrupt, when Hilfiger was 25. The site of the original store has since been demolished to make room for First Arena, home of the Elmira Jackals Hockey team.

Hilfiger moved to Manhattan and tried to find work as a clothing designer. Though he had no formal training, he had designed and sold vests and sweaters for People's Place. He worked freelance and then started a sportswear company that went out of business after only one year. He eventually found work designing jeans for Jordache.

The line of Tommy Hilfiger clothing debuted in the fall of 1985 with an ad campaign that featured no clothes but declared that Hilfiger was a designer on par with Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, and Calvin Klein. In 1984, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation with support from The Murjani Group which went public in 1992, introducing his signature menswear collection. By 1987, the Hilfiger line was attracting more national attention with advertisements in People, USA Today, Newsweek, GQ, Sports Illustrated and other publications. They made a splash, however, with double-page spreads, and because they featured words, logos, or Hilfiger's face, and no images of clothes or models, they stood out from other fashion advertisements. By 2004 the company had 5,400 employees and revenues in excess of $1.8 billion. Tommy Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 1997.

The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation now markets menswear, women’s wear, and children’s wear designed by Tommy Hilfiger. Hilfiger also sells a complete line of clothing from socks to shirts, swimwear, jackets, pants, belts, wallets and ties, as well as sleepwear, golf clothes, eye-wear, cosmetics, perfumes, bedding, and home furnishings.

“Fragrance reflects a person’s true spirit. It’s a lifestyle choice. Fragrance has come to represent the true essence of individuality and the ability to choose for oneself”. Tommy Hilfiger

Some of Tommy’s perfumes and fragrances include Tommy (launched 1995), Tommy Girl (launched 1996), True Star for Men (launched 2005), Tommy Girl 10 (launched 2006) Dreaming (launched 2007), Hilfiger (launched 2008) and Dreaming Pearl (launched 2009).

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