The founder of the brand was born in 1951 in Elmira, New York, to an Irish Catholic family. Fashion was not always his great passion - he was interested in football, and his parents wanted their son to become an engineer. He loved rock music and his tastes were satisfied with the style accompanying its fans, but in such a small town it was difficult to get bell-bottoms, popular in the seventies, so Tommy decided to bring them from New York to Elmira. As a high school student, he decided to open his own boutique called People's Place , which was a meeting place for local youth and where clothes imported from New York were sold. The store turned out to be a great undertaking and grew into a chain of 10 stores! However, market changes and Tommy's neglect led to bankruptcy. Years later he admitted that it was a huge lesson for him because he learned that a good designer is a designer and a businessman at the same time.

Tommy didn't give up and in order to get funds to reactivate his business he moved to New York where he got a job with famous designers. He worked with Jordache Jeans and then with Calvin Klein who noticed Tommy's talent and offered him a job as an assistant - but he refused. Why? Because he accepted the help of Mohan Murjani who decided to invest in his company and together with their financial resources and talent in 1985 they created the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation brand.

The idea of ​​creating a brand is not enough, Tommy had to choose the direction he wanted to follow. The style he proposed was calm and conservative, and the main theme he wanted to revolve around was the preppy style . Tommy wanted to revive the clothing in the style of prestigious American Ivy League schools, so in his first collection he proposed modernized shirts, V-neck sweaters and chinos - all sewn from noble, high-quality materials. Initially, Tommy Hilfiger was a brand that offered its customers men's clothing, only in 1996 did women's clothing join the brand's portfolio.

After years of hard work, Tommy has been hailed as the king of American preppy style . His brand is the quintessence of sporty elegance that captivates with its simplicity.