Enter Tommy Hilfiger’s Factory

Tommy Hilfiger and Andy Warhol each had clear visions of the American Dream. Hilfiger’s was realized in red, white, and blue—the quintessential colors of his namesake brand.  For Warhol it was the Factory, his notorious, foil-lined studio that brought beautiful people together and birthed movies, a magazine, and a movement. These two distinct crusades, one of heritage and one of nonconformity, were brought together on Sunday with Hilfiger’s TOMMY FACTORY, a NYFW homecoming for the brand and tribute to one of the city’s most influential creative forces. Modern icons like Hari Nef, Winnie Harlow, Paloma Elsesser, and Julia Fox joined forces with Warhol superstar Donna Jordan to model a collection of reimagined legacy pieces embellished with Fergus Purcell’s fresh take on the classic TH monogram. On the runway, rugby shirts became gowns, jacquard jumpsuits were paired with harnesses, and preppy staples like varsity sweaters and puffer vests were deconstructed and re-proportioned. Factory darlings Lady Bunny and Jane Forth sat next to Kate Moss, while Kourtney Kardashian, Kris Jenner, John Legend and Shawn Mendes nodded their heads to the sounds of to the sounds of Travis Barker under the cover of mylar balloons inspired by Warhol’s iconic Silver Clouds as rain poured from the real clouds above. Guests held their umbrellas aloft as Hilfiger walked out from backstage to conclude the show, silhouetted by the Manhattan skyline. But before anyone hit the runway, our editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg got a chance to chat with the man behind the brand about Bob Colacello, Snoop Dogg, and our viral September 2022 cover. In the words of Mel, “It’s Tommy’s Factory now, and we’re all living in it.” 

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MEL OTTENBERG: Hey Tommy do you remember me? I’m Mel, the editor-in-chief of Interview. 

TOMMY HILFIGER: Yes, Mel, I remember you. How are you? You know when I met Andy at Studio 54 he would always have a stack of Interviews.

OTTENBERG: Yes.

HILFIGER: And hand them out to people.

OTTENBERG: Yes. Where is my… Shit. Oh, no. My dream will come true that I’ll meet Bob Colacello today and I forgot my stack of Interviews at home, which is annoying.

HILFIGER: I sent my assistant out to buy a stack.

OTTENBERG: Oh really? 

HILFIGER: We have them somewhere.

OTTENBERG: Of the new Interview?

HILFIGER: I think we’ve got a bunch of different ones.

OTTENBERG: Well, the new one’s hot. I want to give him the new one, because—

HILFIGER: Who’s on the cover?

OTTENBERG: It’s Kim Kardashian on the cover. Tommy, you’ve seen it. Tommy, it’s going viral.

HILFIGER: No, I’ve seen it. Yeah.

OTTENBERG: With the jockstrap.

HILFIGER: With her butt hanging out with the red, white, and blue.

OTTENBERG: Exactly.

HILFIGER: The stars and stripes.

OTTENBERG: Exactly, Tommy Hilfiger, exactly.

HILFIGER: By the way, her mom is sitting next to my wife, and her sister, Kourtney, is here because Travis is in the show. And I was going to have Kim come, but then she had to go back to L.A.

OTTENBERG: Did you see Kanye’s Instagram post today saying that Snoop Dogg wearing a Tommy Hilfiger rugby shirt was the marketing genius thing that changed his life? I feel like so many people that really know, know that, but it was very cool that he posted that today because it’s true.

HILFIGER: I know.

OTTENBERG: It’s really amazing.

HILFIGER: It is. And we were just going over the archives recently from Aaliyah, to Britney, to David Bowie, to Mick Jagger, to Snoop, to Puffy, to TLC, to Salt-N-Pepa. I mean, we’re bringing it back in a new way now. And Andy inspired me, because when I met him in the ’80s and he took me to his factory, it was like, “Okay, this is what I want my brand to be about. I want it to be about the culture: fashion, art, music, entertainment, creativity.” And that’s the inspiration of a show.

OTTENBERG: Oh, I love it.

HILFIGER: It’s Tommy’s factory now.

OTTENBERG: It’s Tommy’s factory now, and we’re all living in it. All I know is I’m going to meet Bob Colacello and I’m thrilled. It’s great to see you and congratulations. The show looks great.

HILFIGER: And Donna [Jordan] is also in the show.

OTTENBERG: Yes, I knew this. See, my spies told me this a while ago.

HILFIGER: She’s going to walk down the runway at the end.

OTTENBERG: I’m psyched to see it. Okay. Good to see you.

HILFIGER: Great to see you.

OTTENBERG: Bye. Have a great show.