39 posts tagged "Tommy Hilfiger"
Who Is Theophilus London?
Fashion editors, stylists, and photographers might recognize Theophilus London as that guy who popped up front-row at the men’s shows in Paris this summer. (“That was kind of funny, actually. I got the Kanye treatment at the Lanvin show in France because he couldn’t come at the last minute, so I stepped in as the black rapper kid,” London explains to Style.com.) In Cannes, too, the young, relatively unknown (at the time) hip-hop star made sure people were taking note of him. Last week, Jay-Z and Usher even stopped by his Central Park performance to check out London’s vocal chops for themselves. (“Solange was at dinner with Beyoncé and Jay the night before, I guess, and he said he was going to go check out her friend Theophilus’ show—kind of cool.”) Even when he’s not on stage, breaking into one of his songs from his first solo album (released last month), Timez Are Weird These Days, the lanky Trinidad native has a commanding presence.
London’s explosive self-confidence is partly startling and off-putting, but it’s working. As he quickly picks up steam and his fan base multiplies, he has brands and designers knocking on his door to partner up with him. He has proclaimed he doesn’t like fashion, and yet he appears in photoshoots wearing Lanvin and he personally customizes the buttons of his suits. Here, Style.com discovers who Theophilus London really is.
You started rapping and performing at a pretty young age. What inspired you to do that?
Yeah, when I was about 12 or 13 I did my first lyrics. Two of my cousins were hanging out rapping and making words sound cool—lots of swagger. I did like two lines and then stopped and they were like, “No, you should keep going.” After that, I would bang beats against tables and chairs at school and I just never stopped.
Who do you count as personal music icons?
Definitely Prince, James Brown, Biggie Smalls—the list could go on forever, seriously. Kanye West for sure. Me and Kanye e-mail very often about fashion. We just acknowledge what’s next, what’s new, you know? And Mark Ronson—I’m going to his wedding next month.
You have been quoted in an interview saying you aren’t really into fashion, but I don’t believe that. Do you honestly not like fashion, at all?
I have tons of taste and I just got an eye for shit. I will walk into a store and come out with the best five shirts there. In high school, I always dressed to impress the girls. Brooklyn, where I grew up, is a competitive burg—there’s always a pretty boy around the corner there and you gotta look better than him. I love to shop; I’m just not like a fashion guru, though. I didn’t grow up drawing runway models and deciding what they should wear. Also, I couldn’t dress someone else up. Wait, actually, this year I just started [dressing] the band. Continue Reading “Who Is Theophilus London?” »
Lights Up—Again—At The Bryant Park Tents
When the lights at New York fashion week’s Bryant Park tents were set to go out in February 2010, a light in filmmaker James Belzer’s head went on. Since the Tents were pitched in 1993, they had become a launch pad for New York designers and a symbol of American fashion. They also served as the setting for some of the most memorable (some groundbreaking, some horrifying) shows the industry had ever witnessed. As the designers and editors prepared to make a bittersweet departure for Lincoln Center, Belzer went to work documenting the legacy of the Bryant Park era with the help of several prominent industry figures, including Carolina Herrera, Donna Karan, Tommy Hilfiger, Suzy Menkes, and Isaac Mizrahi.
Last month, Belzer screened his documentary The Tents for the first time at New York’s NewFest, in what he hopes will be a prequel to its debut during New York fashion week this September at Lincoln Center. (Belzer and his sales company are still searching for a backer and distributors.) “Fashion is just like any other art, and it needs to be preserved,” says the filmmaker, who is now working on another documentary, about the preservation of New York’s Garment District. “That’s what I’m trying to do with my film—tell 18 years of fashion history in just 72 minutes.” Here, he speaks with Style.com about his ode to the Tents.
What prompted you to make this film?
I had been in ad sales forever, with Fairchild and Harper’s Bazaar and such—I had seen the business side of the fashion and magazine industry for a really long time. When Bryant Park was coming to a close, I had already aligned myself with Marcus K. Jones, who was the fashion cinematographer for the project. After I met him, we started our first movie project and by January 2010, I had already thrown myself into this project. We started filming the second to last season at Bryant Park, while I was still at Harper’s Bazaar. We are a four-person operation—most interviews were shot on the red. It wasn’t secret by any means, but we didn’t really put the project out there until very recently.
What were some of the challenges you faced in putting this together?
The challenge we had as filmmakers was fitting all of these stories and moments into one. So many historic things happened during the times there, like September 11 (which shut the tents down), and the same with McQueen, which was during the last season at NYFW, but we wanted to handle those moments delicately without losing sight of the focus of our story we were trying to tell. We had the help, though, of so many amazing people, like Donna, Tommy, and Hal [Rubenstein].
I know you have a lot of strong relationships within the industry, but how did you compel so many great people to get involved?
We pitched the key designers, most of whom entertained or granted us access. Going into this, I knew I needed a mix of designers, backstage people, editors, PR people, and all of the people that made fashion week what it was back then. We wanted to include what we called “The Trifecta”: Calvin, Ralph, and Donna—the people who put New York fashion on the map. It was pretty exciting because you know you have really arrived when Donna agrees to do something. She was very candid and we got an amazing interview. Also, Tommy Hilfiger closed the top of his flagship store for a shoot with us. It was the most amazing moment for me. When that interview was done, I went out on the balcony and thought, “How did this happen?”
Continue Reading “Lights Up—Again—At The Bryant Park Tents” »
Christian Louboutin Makes a Pointe, Tommy Hilfiger Mulls A Stake, How Scott Sternberg Put On His Show, And More…
The master of the red soles takes on the red shoes: Christian Louboutin has designed a pair of heels inspired by ballerinas’ toe shoes to raise money for the English National Ballet. [Grazia Daily]
Does Tommy Hilfiger have designs on Michael Kors? Sources say that Hilfiger is among the private investors considering a major investment in the Kors business, which is seeking to raise $500 million through the sale of a 25 percent equity stake to fund global expansion. [WWD]
Band of Outsiders’ Scott Sternberg brought Broadway to Italy for this year’s Pitti Uomo 80 with his West Side Story-inspired show, featuring 46 dancers and models moving to Leonard Bernstein. Here, get a behind-the-scenes look at how the showman put it all together. [Nowness]
And here’s an It bag we didn’t see coming: Margaret Thatcher’s. The former PM’s handbag was auctioned for a coalition of several charities, where it raised nearly $40,000. You know it’s got staying power—Thatcher owned it for over 30 years. [Vogue.U.K.]
For Father’s Day, Two Second-Generation Designers Remember Growing Up With Dad
Following your father into the family business isn’t a given these days, as it once was. But for fashion-world progeny, a lifetime spent in the studio and at the show can lead to a fashion career of his or her very own. In honor of Father’s Day, Style.com checked in with two second-generation designers to hear about the good old days and the lessons they’ve learned—and given—dear old Dad.
Ally Hilfiger debuted her shirtdress-based line, Nahm, with co-designer Nary Manivong in February, but her schooling in the business began years ago at her father Tommy’s headquarters “I used to go to Bring Your Daughter to Work Day with him when I was little and I would sit in all of his design meetings,” Hilfiger tells Style.com. “They would always give me flats to color in with design markers and that’s when I started my color sense.” Those play days at the office became official work days when she signed on to intern with dad, joining him in business and design meetings, trips to factories in Hong Kong, and sample shopping. “Whenever I was asked for my opinion, I would give it, and he valued my opinion very much,” she explains. She’s not slow to share her opinion on his line, either, along with her sister and stepmom. “We’re like, ‘Dad, you have to make those heels a little higher,’ ” Hilfiger laughs.
Like Hilfiger, Moises de la Renta spent his childhood at his dad Oscar’s design studio, toiling in tulle and the rich fabrics that define the de la Renta name. “My father’s office was like Santa’s Workshop,” he tells Style.com from London, where he’s currently traveling. “The most wonderful fabric and colors everywhere—colored pencils, watercolor pencils, and there was an in-house chef. It was like our own secret club because in those days it was a small, tight knit group of people and it was like a family, we all ate together… people were cool, man.” Like Hilfiger, he’s also moved from youthful internships in fashion—at ODLR and at Phat Farm—into his own clothing and accessories line, MDLR. Don Oscar has offered guidance over the years, as well as plenty of style tips to his son. The most valuable? “How to wear a suit well,” Moises says, “and to keep one’s hands manicured.”
Tommy Hilfiger’s Prep House Touches Down In New York
Muffy, we’re not in East Hampton anymore. Those planning a Meatpacking District shopping excursion this weekend can’t possibly miss the out-of-place beach cottage plonked Wizard of Oz-style across the way from the Gansevoort Hotel. The tornado responsible: Tommy Hilfiger, who is on a mission to spread the gospel of prep to every corner of the world this year. The designer told Style.com last night, “Prepsters aren’t too serious about fashion. They want to be casual about fashion, a bit rumpled, but still fun and put together. It’s more a state of mind, and I think that’s why it has become so widespread.” Hilfiger has pulled out all the stops with his prefab, 800-square-foot pop-up house, which will rove from city to city, bringing with it the new, 60-piece Tommy Hilfiger Prep World capsule collection. Also for sale are select vintage pieces including lace-up, striped sundresses for the girls and cool letterman sweaters for guys, as well as accoutrements like dog leashes and “Prepgammon” board games.
Hilfiger brought in friend and collaborator Lisa Birnbach, expert on all things preppy and author of True Prep: It’s a Whole New Old World, to consult on the shop’s decor. It’s fitted out with anything and everything you could imagine turning up in an Andover alum’s summer digs: a wall of a colorful decoy ducks, Adirondack chairs, croquet sets, and even a tennis racket chandelier. There’s also an iPhone app for shoppers, which can superimpose images of the clothing or of the ficitional “The Hilfigers” clan onto camera phone pictures. Jessica Szohr, Krysten Ritter, and John Legend (who engaged in a lively Ping-Pong match) were just a few of the guests who came out to kick off the Prep World tour last night with a preview party at the Standard hotel last night; after New York, the pop-up house will travel to L.A., London, Paris, Madrid, Milan, and Stockholm this summer. So much for traveling light—the house requires three tractor-trailers to transport and four days to set up for each location.
The Prep World pop-up house, located in Gansevoort Plaza, is open to the public today through Sunday (college students get a 15 percent discount), and the collection is also available in Tommy Hilfiger retail stores and online at www.tommy.com/prep.