Tommy Hilfiger

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Tommy Hilfiger

Tommy Hilfiger, it's a household name now. The patriotic red, white, and blue flag is as well known as the McDonald's arches. Chances are you probably own at least one of his products, jeans, sunglasses, shirts, suits, wallets, underwear, and the list goes on. People of all races, sex, and ethnic background wear his clothing and seem to have no problem paying substantially more money just to have the "Tommy" logo plastered on it. Those who wear Hilfiger are proud of the image it creates for them, they tend to be instilled with a sense of all the things Hilfiger stands for regardless of any controversy that may surround him..

Hilfiger took his first step into the fashion world in 1969. Driving his 1959 Volkswagen, he traveled to New York City with his $150 life savings and bought as many of the trendy "bell- bottom" jeans as he could. He then returned to his small town of Elmira, New York and sold them at a huge profit since the jeans were unavailable there and the demand was high. These profits led to the opening of his first store called "People's Place," with 9 more stores soon to follow. (History Of TH) In 1985, Tommy Hilfiger established himself in department stores across the U.S. At first sales were modest, it was a new brand to most, no one else was wearing it, why should people buy it? Making himself easily accessible to consumers and frequently visiting stores and talking with shoppers, he implemented peoples suggestions into his clothing line. Slowly, his line started to become more popular. Teenagers became his driving force at first, but as his company grew, he started to widen his consumer group.

The first thing to consider is how Tommy markets his clothing. Traveling the...

... middle of paper ...

..."As a man of American culture, I hope to continue to investigate how it works, how ideas and images can be put together, taken apart, and reassembled." (Hilfiger, p193)

Bibliography:

Works Cited

Assoicated Press. "Designer Hilfiger disputes Net rumors of racism."

USA Today 28 February, 1999: News4

Berns, Walter. "On Patriotism"

Public Interest 127 (Spring 1997) p19-30

Hilfiger, Tommy All American

New York: MadHouse Productions, 1997

"History Of Tommy Hilfiger" 101799

http://members.tripod.com/~netmage/history.html 61597

Jordan, Anthony. "The Soul of Americanism"

American Legion 144 (1998) p8

Jost, Kenneth "Patriotism in America"

CQ Researcher 25 June 1999: 545-567

Mouffe, Chantal "For Love of Country: An essay on Patriotism and Nationalism"

Ethnic and Racial Studies, Jan 1997: 214-216

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