Claim:.
Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger expressed that individuals of African and Asian descent should not dress in his apparel.
Rating:.
The circulation of these rumors started online, at least nine months before the appearance of the article that brought mass criticism to them. The article, purporting to be news from a tabloid, claimed that Tommy Hilfiger made a racist remark in 1996, which caused the rumors to explode onto the Internet.
Tommy Hilfiger on Oprah
Hello, please read…. and pass on if you haven’t already! Everyone needs to see this.
Good for Oprah!!!! I’m sure many of you watched the recent taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show, where her guest was Tommy Hilfiger. On the show, she asked him if the statements about race he was accused of saying were true. Statements like”…if I’d known African-Americans, Hispanics, Jewish and Asians would buy my clothes, I would not have made them so nice. I wish these people would *NOT* buy my clothes, as they are made for upper class white people.”
His answer to Oprah was a simple “YES”. Where after she immediately asked him to leave her show. My suggestion? Don’t buy your next shirt or Perfume from Tommy Hilfiger. Let’s give him what he asked for. Let’s not buy His clothes, let’s put him in a financial state where he himself will NOT be able to afford the ridiculous prices he puts on his clothes.
BOYCOTT PLEASE…., & SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE YOU KNOW
Nothing empowers people quite like their own survival!
According to Cristina Peczon, the author of the article, the comment that exposed the latest fashion trends was made on CNN Style with Elsa Klensch during an interview with both Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren.
Hilfiger then supposedly butted in then with a comment, something like it is one thing for one’s label to go popular worldwide, but there are some people who just don’t look well in “their” designer clothes. Hilfiger then allegedly named several Asian races, apparently saying that he preferred if “these people” wouldn’t wear their
line — particularly Filipinos!
Many readers were expressing their displeasure by calling for a boycott of Tommy Hilfiger products, as they slammed the ethnic group he mentioned and said he was not sure what he meant by that. However, he later clarified his statement and explained that he had never intended to offend anyone.
Oprah Winfrey threw him off her show, prompting a shocking national revelation on TV. His colorful renditions had never been designed by me for them. I knew that Asians and blacks were going to wear my clothes, so I never made them. Interestingly enough, Liz Claiborne had told the same story about Oprah throwing her off the show in 1991, claiming that she didn’t design for black women because their hips are too big.
Both representatives denied that Hilfiger ever appeared on shows. She threw off the point at which he told a story about the same thing that Winfrey had mentioned before. He morphed the story and mentioned the same thing about Asians not thinking his clothes looked good. Elsa Klensch, a style reporter for CNN, supposedly told Hilfiger that she didn’t believe the tale, noting it in a newspaper article debunking the story in 1997.
“Kathy Park, a spokeswoman for Audrey, stated that Elsa Klensch from CNN’s show ‘Style with Elsa Klensch’ has never appeared on Tommy Hilfiger’s show. Kathy Park also mentioned that there were rumors of an incident in which Tommy Hilfiger was rumored to have taken Oprah Winfrey’s place on the show, but these denials were also carried by the officials from the article in 1999.”
After making a strong statement, Oprah vehemently dismissed the rumors on January 11, 1999, Monday, by openly showing what she was capable of doing.
So I want to just set the record straight once and for all. The rumor claims that clothing designer Tommy Hilfiger came on this show and made racist remarks, and that I then kicked him out. I just want to say that is not true because it just never happened. Tommy Hilfiger has never appeared on this show. READ MY LIPS, TOMMY HILFIGER HAS NEVER APPEARED ON THIS SHOW. And all of [the] people who claim that they saw it, they heard
it — it never happened. I’ve never even met Tommy Hilfiger.
Hilfiger himself appeared on Oprah’s program for the first time ever to address and disprove the long-standing rumor that had been circulating since 2 May 2007, nearly twelve years ago.
Oprah: Let’s break this down. Tommy, in the 21 years that we’ve been on the air, have you ever been on the show before today?
Tommy: Unfortunately, not.
Oprah: And when you first heard it, Tommy, what did you think?
Tommy: I didn’t believe it. … Friends of mine said they heard the rumor. I said, ‘That’s crazy. That can’t be. I was never on the Oprah show. I would never say that.’ And all my friends and family who know me and people who work with me and people who have grown up with me said that’s crazy.
Oprah: Well, did you ever say anything close to that? Where do you think this originated?
Tommy: I have no idea. We hired FBI agents, I did an investigation, I paid investigators lots of money to go out and investigate, and they traced it back to a college campus but couldn’t put their finger on it.
According to a statement posted on the Internet in March 1997, it was rumored that the company Hilfiger is a marvel of ambiguity. Depending on whom you hear it from, it has been slammed by Live King Larry, CNN, News BET, Lake Ricki, Oprah, or blacks, Filipinos, and Asians. Both Hilfiger and his company have steadfastly denied all forms of the rumor. Output: In March 1997, a statement was posted on the Internet claiming that Hilfiger’s company is an enigma. Different sources, such as Live King Larry, CNN, News BET, Lake Ricki, Oprah, or various racial groups like blacks, Filipinos, and Asians, have criticized it, but both Hilfiger and his company have consistently denied all versions of the rumor.
Tommy Hilfiger did not make the alleged inappropriate racial comments. Hilfiger wants his clothing to be enjoyed by people of all backgrounds and his collections are put together with the broadest cross-section of individuals in mind. To reinforce this, he features models of all ethnic backgrounds in his fashion shows and advertisements.
He appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show only in May 2007, and he was never on Elsa Klensch’s show or CNN’s Style, Larry King Live. It has been stated very clearly in the company’s corporate FAQ that he denied the charges leveled against Hilfiger, and he has answered them.
The article from March 1995, which was noted in a newspaper, had mentioned the explosion on the Internet that occurred around nine months prior to March 1996. The rumor about this incident has not been confirmed or denied online.
Then there’s the infamous disparaging “statement” the Parsons brothers and several others said they had heard that Hilfiger made about Blacks, particularly poor Blacks, wearing his clothes.
As with all rumors, there are several variations, and no one can say where or when Hilfiger made the comments. One woman said a friend heard him say it on BET News. A clerk at Burdines said he heard it was on the Ricki Lake show.
He was named the Designer Menswear of the Year by the Fashion Designers Council of America in 1995, even though he hasn’t gone anywhere. In the same year, the young designer was awarded the National Humanitarian Award by the National Conference of Jews and Christians. When Snoop Dogg appeared on Saturday Night Live in March 1994, he wore a Tommy Hilfiger rugby shirt in blue, white, and red, which was very cool. Tommy Hilfiger’s designs gained popularity and support from the black community, fueling his own fashion statements and adding movement and color to his designs. Unfortunately, his history as a designer has cast him as a racist villain, which is especially unfortunate considering the enthusiastic support he has received from the black community.
The popularity of Hilfiger’s clothing made it susceptible to counterfeiters in the Pacific Basin. This gives rise to an alternative explanation, rather than the notion that the Liz Claiborne tale has been revamped with a contemporary designer. It is plausible that Tommy Hilfiger’s remarks cautioning against the use of cheap imitations of his garments were misconstrued or misinterpreted, leading to the mistaken belief that Asians or Filipinos should refrain from wearing his designs, as it might reflect poorly on the clothing.
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