Rather than stay in his old stomping ground of New York, Tommy Hilfiger is taking his shows on a world tour and this weekend his American fashion house landed in Milan.
Having adopted the see-now, buy-now model in 2016 that sees the clothes from the catwalk available to purchase immediately – compared with the traditional six-month wait – Hilfiger now wants to spread global hype by appealing to social media-savvy millennials. “The consumer wants immediate gratification and unique experiences that they can’t find anywhere else,” Hilfiger said at a preview of his brand’s new collection.
Cue Sunday evening’s show, a motor racing-themed extravaganza featuring pit-lane shops selling the collection to the public – who are also invited to Hilfiger’s runway-to-retail shows – surrounded by a catwalk that took the shape of a race track. Tommy Hilfiger has reignited its links with the sport by sponsoring the Formula One Mercedes Benz team for the 2018 season, which means returning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was sat in the front row, wearing high fashion at high speeds when he takes to the track come March. The aesthetic dominated the womenswear and menswear on show here.
Curved racing stripes, reminiscent of the new F1 logo, were a theme throughout, while swimsuits, biker shorts, racer-back tanks and visors were covered with the chequered flag.
Denim boilersuits referenced engineer overalls and leather biker jackets were decorated with branded patches, while their trouser counterparts featured authentic perforated panels. The collection also included the hugely popular Tommy x Gigi capsule collection designed by supermodel Gigi Hadid, who took a victory lap with Hilfiger at the end of the show. This is Hadid’s last edit for the brand, having fulfilled her four-season contract. “We have to move on as a brand,” said Hilfiger, adding that a new collaborator will be announced shortly.
It was young and fun, a direction that Hilfiger feels confident won’t alienate his older customer. “We have not abandoned them, but keeping the brand fresh is very important because they still want to know that it’s relevant. If not, they won’t buy for themselves or their children, their grandchildren and nieces and nephews.”
Hilfiger will be hoping the hype of this outing matches that of prior seasons, which saw 2.5bn impressions on its social media channels immediately after its London show and a 900% increase in traffic to the brand’s website after its New York show.
The designer cites being an early adopter of technology like SnapShop, a recognition app which allows users to take a picture of something they like and purchase it immediately, as a key contributor to this. Last year, the brand’s owners, PVH Corp, reported a 4% increase in revenue for 2016 compared with 2015. Eyes will be on 2017’s end-of-year results to see if the brand continues its upward trajectory.
