Born in 1951, Tommy Hilfiger made his first foray into fashion as a provider of hippie chic to New York campus children in 1969.
Building on the success of his first store, People's Place, Hilfiger had founded a chain of 10 specialty stores in New York State by the age of 26. In the 1970s he focused on design and worked for Jordache for a period before launching his own label in 1985. An astute businessman with a knack for publicity, Hilfiger's first ad campaign, which cost him $ 3 million (£ 1.8m), sparked a resurgence of interest after he was named one of the "Four Great American Designers for Men", along with Perry Ellis, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. By 1990, sales of Tommy Hilfiger clothing had exceeded $ 25 million (£ 15 million).
Until the early 1990s, Hilfiger's market profile was similar to that of Calvin Klein: predominantly middle-class, middle-aged, Middle American white men. However, after his designs were picked up by young African Americans, gangsta rapper Snoop Doggy Dog wearing a Tommy Hilfiger shirt appeared on the first American TV show Saturday Night Live in 1994 and his sales soared overnight. The implications had not been lost on Hilfiger. He soon began to design baggier, more casual clothes to meet the new demand for emerging streetwear styles. In 1995, Hilfiger was named Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
Today, the growing Hilfiger fashion empire, supplemented by fragrances and other merchandising spin-offs, is worth more than $ 400 million (£ 240m) a year. Meanwhile, Hilfiger is known for spending much of his spare time, including his 50th birthday in March 2001 - and money on the Caribbean island of Mustique.
In July 2000, he announced that he was "mutually and amicably" separated from his wife of 20 years, Susie. The two have four children together.