Tommy Hilfiger returned to New York Fashion Week on Friday night, after a two-year break, and pumped up the volume with a posh preppy collection inside Grand Central Station.
With Sylvester Stallone cheering on his young daughter Scarlet, who marched right before plus-sized beauty Paloma Elsesser, the show received huge applause. The noise multiplied by the setting – inside the famed Oyster Bar of America’s greatest train station – as Hilfiger staged the first major brand catwalk show in the six-day New York runway season.
“What can I tell you I am a very proud father,” beamed Stallone, showing FashionNetwork.com several shots of his daughter on his mobile phone. After the 21-year-old Scarlet appeared in an oversized peacoat, pleated mini skirt, woollie cap and python-print wellingtons.
Born across town in Celtic neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen, and famous for playing the Italian Stallion Rocky Balboa, we had always assumed Stallone was a blend of Italian and Irish. But when we asked the legendary actor about his genes, he responded “basically, Russian and French.” So there.
Riffing on collegiate cool and joe college insouciance this was a great fall/winter 2024 collection, and worn on a hipster cast this was one of Tommy’s most concise and convincing runway shows ever.
After taking his collections abroad over the past decade – with stops in Shanghai, Milan, London and Paris – it felt only right to see Tommy back in New York. His most recent show in NYC was in September 2022, with a striking collection though in a washed show staged in torrential rain on the banks of the Queens River. Prior to that his last major collection in New York, was a memorable display at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem in September 2019.
The big news at Hilfiger this season was volume, cutting top-coats wide at the shoulder and long to the ankle; sweaters were chunky; shirt collars were huge and scarves were six-foot-long cable knits.
The collection hinted at many smart ideas in recent fashion seasons, though always on Tommy’s terms. Above all, this a kicky show, with the cast marching around the Oyster Bar, to a great soundtrack by West Love. This man is such a brilliant DJ he managed to seamlessly blend Grover Washington Jr. with Parliament-Funkadelic.
“What I wanted was a wardrobe that a lot of young women could understand and enjoy wearing easily,” explained Tommy, who took his bow in a midnight blue and ecru wool and leather baseball logo jacket.
Followed seconds after with a performance from Jon Batiste, marching down the runway microphone in hand, before he almost sat down on top of Anna Wintour.
And kicking off the New York season with a Hilfiger hit.
With annual sales hovering around $5 billion, Tommy is America’s biggest designer, apart from Ralph Lauren. This concise and clever collection looks certain to drive Hilfiger growth upwards rapidly.
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