Tommy Hilfiger and the American dream

The Tommy Hilfiger brand is so strongly associated with the American dream that the mental impression of its red, white and blue logo is almost interchangeable with the Stars and Stripes itself. Every glossy advertisement features a selection of smiling Americans wearing nautical blazers, New England chinos and impossibly clean preppy shirts. Groups of models pretend to be happy families engaged in healthy outdoor pursuits. This idealised Ivy League look simultaneously manages to sell perfume to teenagers and denim to the over 40s. Sitting somewhere beyond Gap and below Ralph Lauren, it is a label that manages to be all things to all people at an attainable, designer price. The consistency of this image has proved to be the real commercial trick of the brand in recent years. When Tommy Hilfiger launched the label in 1984, it caught the attention of the rap community who took to wearing the preppy sportswear several sizes too big. Hilfiger reacted by sending his favourite stars trunk-loads of free clothing. In the late 1990s the designer was accused of racism because of comments he supposedly made on the Oprah Winfrey show. However the alleged interview never even took place. More recently the brand has distanced itself from the super-sized rap look and refocused on its preppy roots. Tommy is now the go-to label for decently priced cashmere and perfectly cut chinos. Crucially there are no surprises. The brand's huge success is testimony to the fact that often it is predictability that shifts clothes.