Tommy Hilfiger is a well-known fashion designer and brand that has dominated worldwide marketplaces for decades. He will participate as a guest judge on Project Runway Season 19’s finale episode. The 70-year-old entrepreneur has amassed a net worth of $450 million throughout the course of his career.
The valuation may have been in the billions, but in 1989, Hilfiger sold the majority of his company’s stock to financiers Silas Chou and Lawrence Stroll. It was a wise investment since the dual billionaires took the brand to the worldwide market and it became a huge success in the 1990s. The brand’s distinctive menswear debuted in 1992, followed by womenswear in 1996. With over a thousand locations worldwide, sales in the 2000s topped $1.9 billion. After six years, Apex Partners purchased Tommy Hilfiger for $1.6 billion, then Phillips-Van Heusen purchased it for $3 billion in 2010.
How Tommy Hilfiger Start His Corporation?
The fashion designer, born Thomas Jacob Hilfiger, began his business at the age of 18. He used to buy jeans and then sell them once they were customized. During the summer of 1969, he worked at Cape Cod, a clothing business. After two years, he founded People’s Place, a clothing boutique, with just $150. Initially, he sold fashionable apparel at his shop, but he eventually began designing his own. Hilfiger added a few additional outlets, but People’s Place fell bankrupt shortly after.
After studying business, he worked for a few designer firms in New York City before launching Tommy Hill (1979). It did not go as planned, therefore he formed 20th Century Survival (1981) and Click Point (1982). Finally, in 1985, he founded The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation with the assistance of businessman Mohan Murjani.
Tommy Hilfiger Personal life
Hilfiger married Susan Cirona in 1980, but the couple separated in 2000. They have four children together: Ally, Richard, Elizabeth, and Kathleen. After an eight-year divorce, the designer remarried former model Dee Ocleppo. They have a kid called Sebastian and are still married. Hilfiger has also been active with real estate. He has flipped and sold many homes, including a $25.5 million penthouse in New York City’s Plaza Hotel, a $23.5 million Miami property, and a $35 million Palm Beach estate. Hilfiger has appeared in several fashion publications, including GQ and Marie Claire, and has received numerous designer honors. He is also a philanthropist and music enthusiast who supports a variety of music and charitable activities.
Hilfiger appears as a special guest judge for the Project Runway finale.
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In the Project Runway finale, the fashion legend will join the normal panel of judges as a guest. At New York Fashion Week, four female finalists will present their collections. The show’s mentor and presenter, Christian Siriano, will be joined on the judges’ panel by Brandon Maxwell, Nina Garcia, and Elaine Welteroth. Kristina Kharlashkina, Coral Castillo, Chasity Sereal, and Shantall Lacayo are the finals. The Season 19 finale of Project Runway will be broadcast on Thursday, February 3 at 9.00 p.m. ET on ABC.
