Last season, Tommy Hilfiger made a triumphant return to the official New York schedule (the presentation took place at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station), and this season he consolidated the result by choosing to show the spring-summer collection from the MV John F. Kennedy – the last remaining (as Google suggests) Kennedy-class ferry. It previously carried passengers between Whitehall Terminal in Manhattan and St. George Terminal in Staten Island.
As an invitation, guests received a copper coin that looked like a ferry token. The idea, Hilfiger said, was to find something that was strongly associated with the city but not so obvious. “This is what we wanted, something iconic but a little unexpected.”
The show on the water made its own adjustments to the collection. Yet it all fits perfectly with the DNA of the brand itself. Navy peacoats and captain’s jackets, cricket sweaters and tennis shoes, pleated chinos and poplin formal dresses, loose-fitting shorts and shirts (as if worn backwards). Accessories included roomy duffle bags (necessary for travel on any route) and comfortable woven leather sneakers (worn with socks, too). “We wanted to live within our signature codes: stripes, red, white and blue, nautical and collegiate,” added the designer.
