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Tommy Hilfiger Takes over the Oyster Bar in Grand Central for Joyous New York-Centric Fashion Show

The Tommy Hilfiger collection is modeled during Fashion Week, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, in New York. (AP)
The Tommy Hilfiger collection is modeled during Fashion Week, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, in New York. (AP)
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Tommy Hilfiger Takes over the Oyster Bar in Grand Central for Joyous New York-Centric Fashion Show

The Tommy Hilfiger collection is modeled during Fashion Week, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, in New York. (AP)
The Tommy Hilfiger collection is modeled during Fashion Week, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, in New York. (AP)

Tommy Hilfiger threw himself a welcome home party Friday night at Grand Central's Oyster Bar with Questlove as his DJ and Jon Batiste serenading Anna Wintour on his melodica while a bevy of global celebrities looked on.

Turning the iconic restaurant into “The Tommy” club for a night, Hilfiger called his New York Fashion Week show “A New York Moment,” rolling out roomy, '90s prep classics for the bash. The last time he hit town for fashion week was in September 2022, when his crowd braved rain for his “Tommy Factory” show at a Brooklyn drive-in theater.

This time, happy and dry underground beneath the transportation hub's vaulted ceilings, fans lined ramps for a glimpse of K-pop's Nayeon, her countryman Junho Lee, Indian actor Sonam Kapoor and various other friends of the brand: Sofia Richie Grainge and Damson Idris among them. Sylvester Stallone popped in at the end.

Hilfiger stuck to what he knows on models walking through: rugby shirts, blazers, chinos and varsity jackets in corduroy and herringbone. There were tailored women's coats in wool, checks and earth-toned tweeds, and chunky cable knits and mini-dress polos in cashmere.

Hilfiger put some of his famous guests in pieces that were shoppable as he continued to embrace a “see now, buy now” approach to fashion shows.

Who's wearing his take on so-called affordable luxury?

During a preview Thursday at his Madison Avenue offices, Hilfiger ticked off his primary markets of today: Germany, France, Italy, England, Türkiye, various parts of Scandinavia and Greece among them.

“That business is now bigger than the US business,” he told The Associated Press. “We're going to bring it back in the states now because we have really focused a lot on international growth. And this is a statement we’re making, that we’re coming home, and we’re taking it very seriously.”

And who had the most fun during his New York return? Hilfiger himself. He posed with Stallone and others for photos after his finale, when Batiste played along to his hit “Freedom” as he walked through the crowd. The designer even briefly joined Questlove in his booth.

On the runway, Hilfiger kept his logo messaging to a minimum as he attempts to “grasp,” as he called it, US consumers once again.

“We have to do it in a different way. We have to give them more elevated product, more modern fabrics and fits, and avoid redundancy,” he said. “We’ve got a very big polo shirt business, chino pant business, Oxford shirt business. But the consumer wants more than just that. Those are his or her staples. We're now going to bring some more excitement. And some more sophistication.”

Hilfiger started his eponymous brand in New York in 1985. PVH acquired it in 2010. Global retail sales of the brand’s wide range of products totaled about $9.1 billion in 2022.

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Fashion

80-year-old LL Bean Staple Finds New Audience as Trendy Bag

Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
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80-year-old LL Bean Staple Finds New Audience as Trendy Bag

Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Gracie Wiener poses with some of her tote bags in Washington Square Park in New York, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

L.L. Bean created it 80 years ago to haul heavy blocks of ice. Now it's a must-have summer fashion accessory, The Associated Press reported.

The simple, sturdy canvas bag called the Boat and Tote is having an extended moment 80 years after its introduction, thanks to a social media trend in which they're monogrammed with ironic or flashy phrases.

New Yorker Gracie Wiener helped get it started by ordering her humble bags from L.L. Bean monogrammed with “Psycho” and then “Prada,” the pricey Italian luxury brand, instead of just her name or initials, and posting about them on Instagram. Then others began showcasing their own unique bags on TikTok.

Soon, it wasn’t enough to have a bag monogrammed with “Schlepper,” “HOT MESS,” “slayyyy” or “cool mom.” Customers began testing the limits of the human censors in L.L. Bean’s monogram department, which bans profanity “or other objectionable words or phrases,” with more provocative wording like “Bite me,” “Dum Blonde” and “Ambitchous.”

Social media fueled the surge, just as it did for Stanley’s tumblers and Trader Joe’s $2.99 canvas bags, which were once selling on eBay for $200, said Beth Goldstein, an analyst at Circana, which tracks consumer spending and trends.
The tote’s revival came at a time when price-conscious consumers were forgoing expensive handbags, sales of which have weakened, and L.L. Bean’s bag fit the bill as a functional item that’s trendy precisely because it’s not trendy, she said. L.L. Bean's regular bags top out at about $55, though some fancier versions cost upward of $100.
“There’s a trend toward the utilitarian, the simple things and more accessible price points,” she said, and the customization added to the appeal: “Status items don’t have to be designer price points.”

L.L. Bean’s tote was first advertised in a catalog as Bean’s Ice Carrier in 1944 during World War II, when ice chests were common. Then they disappeared before being reintroduced in 1965 as the Boat and Tote.

These days, they’re still made in Maine and are still capable of hauling 500 pounds of ice, but they are far more likely to carry laptops, headphones, groceries, books, beach gear, travel essentials and other common items.

Those snarky, pop-oriented phrases transformed them into a sassy essential and helped them spread beyond Maine, Massachusetts’ Cape Cod and other New England enclaves to places like Los Angeles and New York City, where fashionistas like Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Sarah Jessica Parker are toting them — but not necessarily brandished with ironic phrases.

“It’s just one of those things that makes people smile and makes people laugh, and it’s unexpected,” said Wiener, who got it all started with her @ironicboatandtote Instagram page, which she started as a fun side hustle from her job as social media manager for Air Mail, a digital publication launched by former Vanity Fair Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter.

The folks at L.L. Bean were both stunned and pleased by the continuing growth. For the past two years, the Boat and Tote has been L.L. Bean’s No. 1 contributor to luring in new customers, and sales grew 64% from fiscal years 2021 to 2023, spokesperson Amanda Hannah said.

The surge in popularity is reminiscent of L.L. Bean’s traditional hunting shoe, the iconic staple for trudging through rain and muck, which enjoyed its own moment a few years back, driven by college students.