Tommy Hilfiger Brings Modern Prep to The Plaza
There are few New York addresses with the cultural currency of The Plaza, and fewer still that could carry quite so much personal meaning for Tommy Hilfiger. For Spring 2027, the designer returned to the legendary Fifth Avenue hotel, not just as a backdrop for his latest collection, but to a place woven into his own history. Once home to Hilfiger and his family, The Plaza became the setting for a very New York interpretation of the American classics that have defined his career.
Presented during New York Fashion Week, “Plaza Prep” reworked the codes of traditional American prep through a distinctly contemporary lens. The familiar red, white and blue remained, but were sharpened with vivid yellow and vibrant green, while proportions, fabrication and styling gave heritage pieces a more relaxed, modern attitude.
Rugby dresses arrived colour-blocked, Oxford shirting was reworked in Ithaca stripes, and traditional tartan appeared across blazers and Ivy jackets. Polo shirts moved between shrunken and oversized proportions, finished with micro embroidery of the Tommy crest and collars lifted in a nod to collegiate dressing. Chinos, meanwhile, took an altogether less traditional turn, reappearing as high-cut hot shorts in bold colours or borrowing from denim with subtly twisted seams.
Elsewhere, the Tommy Flag appeared faded and washed across superfine suede and silk-cashmere, extending to oversized totes, and footwear grounded the collection in a distinctly '90s fashion. Rounded two-tone skate sneakers, boat shoes, penny loafers and a leather interpretation of the pool slide brought the polish down to earth, keeping the collection rooted in the easy irreverence that has always made American prep feel less formal than its British counterpart.
It was a collection built around the idea of taking something familiar and making it your own, a philosophy Hilfiger has long associated with New York style. “For 40 years, I've been inspired by the style of New Yorkers, how the people of the city take the classics and make them their own,” he said. “This season, The Plaza is our playground, where Tommy icons feel remixed and refined for today.”
That sense of play extended well beyond the clothes. The Palm Court and Terrace Room brought together the Tommy Hilfiger F.A.M.E.S. universe, spanning fashion, art, music, entertainment and sport, with a front row that felt appropriately eclectic for the address. Gigi Hadid opened the show, while Kate Moss, Camila Cabello, JISOO, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Carmelo Anthony joined professional basketball players Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns and Miles McBride.
The soundtrack moved between old and new, with Matt Jones and the Matt Jones Orchestra taking classics into a contemporary setting before Romeo Beckham closed the show in the final look, bringing his own relaxed energy to the collection.
Then came Slayyyter, who turned the finale into something closer to a concert than a conventional runway exit. Performing “Dance” in a head-to-toe Tommy Hilfiger look of red shirting, cropped shorts, a necktie and black knee-high boots, she brought the show back to one of the brand's longstanding strengths: its relationship with the artists and personalities shaping contemporary culture.
For Hilfiger, however, The Plaza offered more than spectacle. During the years he lived there with his family, the hotel became a constant source of inspiration, its heritage, atmosphere and revolving cast of guests providing an early glimpse into the collision of personalities, style and culture that makes New York so distinctive.
Spring 2027 brings that personal history back into focus. At The Plaza, classic American prep was loosened, remixed and given a distinctly New York edge, turning one of the city's most recognisable addresses into a playground for the next chapter of Tommy Hilfiger's Classic American Cool.
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Images courtesy of Tommy Hilfiger
Words by Jheanelle Feanny
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