Arab News | Gigi Hadid opens Tommy Hilfiger’s New York show

DUBAI: US-Dutch-Palestinian model Gigi Hadid opened Tommy Hilfiger’s Spring/Summer 2027 show this week at The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, wearing loose red pants and a tan suit jacket with a navy bucket hat.

The show ran on the first official day of New York Fashion Week and marked the American designer’s return to the official schedule after a hiatus.

Guests watched from seats arranged across the hotel’s carpeted lobby, with the Palm Court and Terrace Room serving as the runway. The venue carries personal significance for Hilfiger, who lived in a penthouse there with his wife, Dee, for more than a decade.

“Here we are with a new look — but still Tommy Hilfiger,” Hilfiger told Reuters before the show.

The ‌designer, 75, launched his namesake ‌brand in 1985 and emphasized that the latest collection aims to appeal to ‌Gen Z.

“We wanted to show the youth that we were able to take our classics and rework them and reintroduce them.”

The collection reworked the label’s preppy codes in oversize polo shirts, plaid bucket hats, shrunken denim and varsity jackets, and rugby shirts remade in washed silk. Shorts were cut short and baggy, and Hilfiger revived his sailing jackets in bright yellow and red. Red and navy dominated, broken up by yellow pants and a flowing silk dress.

Model Kate Moss, singers Camila Cabello and Jisoo, New York Knicks players Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart and actor Patrick Schwarzenegger were among the front-row spectators.

Violinists filled the ‌room with renditions of hip-hop songs, including Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” before a live performance by singer Slayyyter rounded out the show.

Hadid’s runway appearance followed the brand’s fall 2026 campaign, “Only in New York,” which she fronted and which was shot at the same hotel by photographer Lachlan Bailey.

The 30-second film opened on the Manhattan skyline at dusk before moving inside, where Hadid appeared in one of the hotel’s gilded elevators. The campaign cast also included American football player Travis Kelce, Jisoo, South Korean DJ Peggy Gou, American tennis player Frances Tiafoe and former basketball player Carmelo Anthony.

Hadid has worked with the label since 2016 and co-designed four Gigi x Tommy capsule collections released between 2016 and 2018.