Tommy Hilfiger Tells Four Turning Points In His Career.

U.S.A

The design master Tommy Hilfiger recently published a memoir entitled "American Dreamer (American Dreamer)".

Tommy Hilfiger for 40 years, the ups and downs of entrepreneurship history is typical of the "American Dream" representative, after many ups and downs, but still adhere to the dream.

His success comes from a firm spirit of entrepreneurship, a series of wise choices on the path of brand development, and the help of several "noble people" in the industry.

Recently, Tommy Hilfiger received an exclusive interview with the US website.

Ups and downs in your career.

Tommy Hilfiger, 65, thinks he has four turning points in his career:

At the age of 18, Tommy Hilfiger opened its own boutique People 's Place' in northern New York. Its start-up cost was only $150, and it was bankrupt at the age of 25.

This is the first turning point of his career.

In 1979, Tommy Hilfiger went to the bustling city of New York to pursue his dream of design, and ushered in the second turning point - after trying all kinds of design work in India.

The industry tycoon Mohan Murjani got the chance to independently design his own brand of men's clothing (for which he sacrificed the chance to design casual jeans for Calvin Klein).

The first brand of the same name was launched in 1985.

In 1989, Tommy Hilfiger was divorced from Mohan Murjani's Murjani International, and won the financial support of the famous investor, Hongkong textile tycoon Cao Qifeng and its business partner, Canadian fashion tycoon Lawrence Stroll, which is also the third turning point in the road of entrepreneurship.

In 1992, Tommy Hilfiger went through fourth turning points.

Later on, women's wear, jeans, children's wear, accessories, perfume and home products were developing rapidly. They often collaborated with fashion icons such as rolling stones, Lenny Kravitz, David Bowie and Beyonc.

In the book, Tommy Hilfiger spoke bluntly about the criticism that had been encountered in the early days of entrepreneurship.

During the period 1992~1993, Ralph Lauren, the famous fashion designer of the United States, expressed dissatisfaction with the young brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and thought they had the suspicion of plagiarism.

He said his design concept was to create a younger, fashionable, more colorful brand, and did not intend to plagiarize Ralph Lauren, but the business model of the master was indeed very attractive.

Tommy Hilfiger adopts the replenishment mode of Ralph Lauren in department stores.

For this reason, he regards the predecessors Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein as the "Rolls-Royce and Mercedes" in the fashion world, and his position is "Audi".

Tommy Hilfiger jokes in the book that if the brand can continue to expand product lines and stores, it may promote the industry's "Porsche" in the future.

Tommy Hilfiger has been on the streets of the United States for a long time. The product distribution is too fast and the sales promotion is too high.

The board once considered pferring the brand to Iconix, a brand management company under Cao Qifeng.

Tommy Hilfiger admits that having large sums of money means opening up a new world for the brand.

Then in 2006, Tommy Hilfiger was eventually sold to the European private equity fund Apax Partners at a price of 1 billion 600 million US dollars, becoming a privatization brand and reducing business in the short term to curb the excessive expansion in the US market.

In 2010, brand sales resumed growth again.

Tommy Hilfiger credited the brand back to its predecessor, CEO Fred Gehring.

Under his leadership, the brand introduced the European private placement fund Apax to maintain the stability of European business and temporarily reduce the US business.

Since then, Messi has signed an exclusive authorization agreement with Macy s.

In 2010, Apax Partners sold the controlling stake in Tommy Hilfiger to the US fashion group PVH for $3 billion, retaining only part of the equity in China's regional business.

In fiscal year 2015, Tommy Hilfiger retail sales amounted to US $6 billion 500 million.

In February of this year, Apax Partners eventually sold its 55% stake in Tommy Hilfiger China joint venture to PVH group, which ended with 9 years of cooperation with Tommy Hilfiger.

Tommy Hilfiger regards the present as the most perfect stage of life. In the aspect of career, he is very satisfied with the current development of the brand. He is satisfied with the fashion show, stable and strong business structure led by Gigi Hadid.

At present, Tommy Hilfiger only acts as a brand ambassador and is no longer responsible for practical design matters.

Tommy Hilfiger's parent company PVH's CEO Manny Chirico leadership and Tommy Hilfiger are now global CEO Daniel Grieder in the digital enhancement strategy, which makes him feel confident.

Tommy Hilfiger believes that numerous successful business cases show that if young people are passionate enough, they should pursue their dreams. After all, schools are not suitable for everyone.