There’s been a lot of talk over the years from African American’s who refuse to wear Tommy Hilfiger clothing; “it’s lame” “I only wear Polo”, blah blah blah. These thoughts began in 1996; when outrage insued amoung the community because of comments Hilfiger made, surrounding the fact that the hip-hop community were draped in his garments. Supposedly Hilfiger made the following comments on The Oprah show: “If I had known that African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians would buy my clothes, I would not have made them so nice….I wish those people would not buy my clothes; they were made for upper-class whites.” Oprah then allegedly asked Hilfiger to leave her show. Right. And that has been spinning on the rumor-mill and forwarded chain-letter emails for over a decade.
Oprah addressed the allegations on a show and her website in 1999; stating Hilfiger never even appeared on her show and that she had never met him. Hilfiger also stated on his site that he was “deeply upset that a malicious and completely false rumor continues to circulate” and he creates clothing ”for all different types of people regardless if their race, religious or cultural background”. The Anti-Defamation League, who focuses on anti-Semitism and civil rights for all, got involved and conducted an investigation- finding that the alligations of Hilfiger making racial slurs were false.
The fact is; Tommy still knows how to dress a man (and a woman for that matter), and apparently is still a hot commodity. The PVH (Phillips-Van Heusan) Corp recently purchased the Hilfiger company from Apax Partners L.P. for 2.2 billion Euros, or $3 billion- with $137 million in liabilities. Well dayam!
Peep these looks from Spring 2010- taking classic looks and adding a modern twist. If you can’t appreciate, you should re-evaluate your style. ~ C.M.
