Tommy Hilfiger Spring/Summer 2018 Collection
It was like the set of ‘Fast and the Furious’ franchise all the way at Tommy Hilfiger’s spring 2018 collection. Staging the ‘see now, buy now’ spectacle in Milan, the dusty old fairground was converted into a racetrack set, complete with cameras, and giant LED video screens. There were even pit crews working on Mercedes-AMG Petrona F1 cars, which Hilfiger said were real, costing an estimated $5 million piece, phew!
The spring collection looked like a Formula 1-themed sportswear, and it’s right on time as well as Tommy Hilfiger recently sealed a multi-year deal with four-time Formula One World Champions Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, becoming their official apparel partner.
The Milan edition of the spring collection was also special as this was the last show of the famed collaboration between Hilfiger and Gigi Hadid. The first three shows were in New York, Los Angeles, and London with over-the- top productions as well like “Rock Circus” show in London, “TommyLand” in Los Angeles, and “Tommy Pier” in New York.
The ‘see now, buy now’ project has been hugely successful as the complete collection of the men’s, women’s as well as the Tommy x Gigi capsule collection were available for purchase online the second they were on the runway. A day later, it was also available at close to 20,000 physical points of sale.
What is the collection all about?
Hilfiger’s spring collection is all about the revival of streetwear, logomania, and most importantly the 90s nostalgia. The designer reinvented most of his pieces and styles from the 90s, which first put him on the fashion map, like khakis, family crest T-shirts, and color-blocked versions of the rugbies.
Hilfiger’s signature red, white and blue color shades were predominant on the outerwear, shorts, and base layers. Striped shirts were also dominant, with variations underneath sweaters and overshirts. Similar striped patterns were there on the large vests and hoodies. Some notable visual detailing included patches from racing uniforms on bomber jackets and quarter-zip shirts.
The most notable among the lot was a reworked T-shirt of his breakout ad campaign of 1985.
While debuting the campaign for his label in 1985, Hilfiger did something that no other designer had dared to do — putting the names of his competitors in an advert that gradually became his trademark T-shirt logo.
It started like: “The four great American designers for men are:” In the next line, followed the ‘fill-in- the-blank spaces’ for Ralph Lauren, Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger, the American household names of the time and his idols. In a tiny font in the next line was his trademark red, white, and blue flag, which read, “This is the logo of the least well-known of the four.” In an even tinier font, the advert had other text, the most notable of it being: “Tommy’s clothes are easygoing without being too casual, classic without being predictable. He calls them classics with a twist. The other three designers call them competition.”
Specific pieces in the collection:
Hilfiger’s spring collection boasts of a bold palette of red, white, blue, and black colors, targeted at the millennial crowd. Piped leather pants, checkered flag prints, half-shirts, cropped sweatshirts, and bikinis were the standout pieces — all in racy prints.
There were also other standouts like a black-and- white checkerboard-print bike short, bomber jackets with auto-racing patches, a logo-patterned windbreaker, a mesh crop top, and Hilfiger flags tops and denim from the 90s. Pairing was quite millennial as well — sleek bike shorts with oversize sweatshirts, silky boxer shorts with a bra top, a cardigan and bandeau tops worn under sheer overalls.
A full range of accessories was also a part of the collection such as ball caps, striped tennis sneakers, and extra-long striped belts.
All the Hadid siblings walked the ramp, with Gigi Hadid in the spotlight as well as other notable names like Hailey Baldwin, Lucky Blue Smith, and Winnie Harlow. Gigi Hadid came first, wearing a THxGH-branded crop top and color-block leather moto pants.
Check out some of the amazing pieces from the collection.
Hilfiger’s vision for the next TOMMYNOW:
Most of the designers’ fear replicating their success; Hilfiger is no different. When interviewed backstage before the Milan show, he told WWD: “Yes, because the success of the see-now- buy- now has been so dramatic, we’re always thinking, ‘How can we better ourselves next time around?’ But the audience has been buying during the show, so that’s our success barometer. We think they’ll do the same for this show.”
A statement from the brand for Hilfiger’s vision of TOMMYNOW read: “My vision for TOMMYNOW was to create a global platform that we could take on tour to bring our show experience to new audiences around the world. It’s about the fusion of fashion, entertainment and pop culture with experiences, performances and inspiring interactions that are designed around our consumers. As one of the fashion capitals of the world, Milan is the perfect place to celebrate our next TOMMYNOW show.”
Well, with the end of the show, came the end of the successful Hilfiger-Hadid collaboration. The collection is all over the stores now. Shop and relive the experience yet again!
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