The Secret to Tommy Hilfiger's Success In Fashion

The story of Tommy Hilfiger's spectacular trajectory is as American Dream as the clothes he designs. Starting out as a plucky teenage entrepreneur with just $150 in his pocket and 20 pairs of jeans, the New York-bred businessman went on to launch his label in 1985. Yet after a series of ups, downs, gains and losses, and a few financial partners along the way, he has ended up triumphant. In 2010, in the brand's 25th year, clothing conglomerate Phillips-Van Heusen purchased his company for a whopping $3 billion. Between underwriting the new Americans in Paris designer initiative (alongside Diane von Furstenberg and Anna Wintour), consulting for Belstaff and launching a new concept shop at the Bay, plus talk of buying a stake in Michael Kors, it's clear that Hilfiger is still thinking big.