November 2018 Issue #23 November 2018 Issue #23 | Page 13

SPRING 2019 MENSWEAR
In February, Tommy Hilfiger staged his final Tommy x Gigi spectacular in
Milan, but if you thought he was “over” mega-shows and celebrity collabora-
tions, he’s just getting started. On September 4, he’ll stage his fifth around-
the-world “TommyNow” event in Shanghai, China, which will include his
first capsule with his latest collaborator: race car driver Lewis Hamilton. It’s
happening just outside the regular Fashion Week schedule, which means
editors and buyers will be crisscrossing the globe just two days before New
York Fashion Week begins; many of them have already started their visa
applications.
We’ve gotten a sneak peek got of what Tommy x Lewis might entail: sou-
venir jackets, new flag logo T-shirts, suede hiking boots, and multi-checked
shirting—effectively a mix of streetwear and classic sport elements. A few
of those details carried over to Hilfiger’s Spring 2019 menswear collection,
shown via appointment in his Madison Avenue headquarters, but the bigger
takeaway for Spring was a return to his nautical roots. Sailing flags were
intarsia’d on cotton knits or collaged together into a kaleidoscopic print on
a nylon hoodie and matching bucket hat, and in several instances, vintage
logos were collaged, too. The Tommy crest appeared layered over flags on
a T-shirt or spliced with a collegiate “New York State” logo on a Technicolor
hoodie, and elsewhere, flags were blown up and abstracted into thick em-
broideries. The collage idea was mirrored in his classic shirting, too, from
multi-striped button-downs to boxy jackets with swaths of brightly colored
checks.
Those old-school Americana vibes are likely to be a hit in Asia, where Hil-
figer is hoping to expand (hence the Shanghai show). There’s a huge mar-
ket for vintage Ralph Lauren and Hilfiger menswear in China and Japan,
and the preppy sweaters and reworked logos look a bit retro without the
hassle of searching for the 1985 originals.
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