You can always count on Tommy Hilfiger to entertain the tough fashion-week crowd. On Monday morning, he transformed the Park Avenue Armory into a flower-filled music-festival set that evoked the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club” era. “I am inspired by music and musicians all the time,” he said backstage. “I thought this would be a great moment to unleash this, and really show young women how to dress for a festival.” Tara Ferry, Brian Ferry’s son, and Ally Hilfiger’s boyfriend Steve Hash played drums to a sound track that featured Hendrix and the Stones. Rock progeny Georgia May Jagger and Ella Richards, Keith’s granddaughter, walked the show.
Hilfiger’s proposed dress code for Glastonbury or Coachella heavily nodded at the Sixties and Seventies music scene, sartorial references the designer has used in the past. He showed multiple riffs on the iconic Beatles’ military jacket, including a striped burgundy cape version shown with matching shorts. The designer has embraced the rock-star aesthetic for a long time, before anyone had even heard of Hedi Slimane, but still, the echoes of recent Saint Laurent caught some in the audience by surprise, especially the metallic striped numbers and star-patterned knit cardigan shown over a sweet baby-doll dress. That’s not to say that these looks didn’t have their appeal, especially at the designer’s price point. Hilfiger ended the show on a pretty note — languid chiffon dresses that were hippie-ish, and rendered with polish and commercial appeal.