Tommy Hilfiger

J.Crew has finally crossed the pond in a major way: Yesterday, the American retailer opened its first European flagship in London at 165 Regent Street. The massive 17,000-square-foot space includes both men’s and women’s apparel, and is in a retail stretch with neighbors like Burberry, Anthropologie, Tommy Hilfiger, and Hugo Boss, to name a few.

A big upper management adieu chez DvF: Paula Sutter, the president of Diane von Furstenberg Studio, LLC will leave her post as the president of the company. Sutter was named president of the brand in 1999, one year after she was appointed as a consultant for the label. What was Sutter responsible for bringing to the Diane von Furstenberg empire during her 14-year run helming the company? Free-standing stores, a presence in department stores, a vast range of accessories running the gamut from sunglasses to shoes and even bedding, plus a presence in over 70 countries.

In the depths of the Tribeca Grand Hotel, The Cinema Society and Tommy Hilfiger gathered the cast for a screening of The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete. Executive producer of the film, Alicia Keys brought along her husband, Swizz Beats to walk the carpet and get cozy in the luscious seats of the hotel’s mini movie theater. Also on hand? Jennifer Hudson, Tommy and Dee Hilfiger, Maxwell, Jamie Chung, Clive Davis, Steve Buscemi, Natasha Bedingfeld, Nicole Miller, and Ann Dexter-Jones. Hudson gushed to The Daily about working with Keys. “One of the things I love about working with Alicia is that everything is very easy and laidback,” said Hudson. “Nothing is ever too much.”

“We wish they all could be California…”The Daily (obviously) sat front row at Tommy Hilfiger’s show earlier this week and visited him backstage to get the scoop on Spring.

The CFDA and Vogue have announced the lucky designers heading to Paris later this month for the fifth season of their “Americans in Paris” initiative, thanks to the generous support of Tommy Hilfiger. Who are the lucky designers brushing up on their French as we speak?

Thom Browne
: Positively clinical! In the chicest of manners, of course. Asylum-themed and one of the most theatrical shows we’ve seen this week, Browne brought the insanity for a seriously sick show. The collection consisted of stark contrasts between black and white, the occasional navy, and a few instances of creamy silk looks offset by models’ messily smeared crimson red lips. With frizzy, wildly teased coifs and equally crazed looks in their eyes, their exaggerated appearances were just as important in presenting the elaborate collection.

It’s another fashion calendar shakeup! Tommy Hilfiger is moving his show to Monday, September 9th at 11 a.m. right after Carolina Herrera instead of his usual time slot on Sunday at 8 p.m. The move will bump Belstaff out of its time slot, where they have shown for the past two seasons. As a result of Hilfiger’s time shift, Belstaff will now hold a presentation and cocktail party on September 8th at 7 p.m. at The Four Seasons instead.

This past weekend, our L.A. correspondent Sydney Sadick celebrated Tommy Hilfiger’s Surf Shack summer initiative at The Brig in Venice. Here’s a recap of her night!

Up for a little après-surf attire? Then hop onto the Tommy Hilfiger surf shack tour! This month the brand is launching a limited edition “Surf Shack” collection inspired by the warm waters of Malibu to Australia’s Gold Cost and the chilly Atlantic in Biarritz. The collection will feature 12 women’s pieces and 16 men’s pieces with looks like a pastel yellow maxi dress, multi-colored striped bikini, or a gingham blazer for women to fuschia and blue swimshorts, a pair of white roll up pants with a surfboard print and a chambray zip anorak for men.

Surf’s up! Last night, Tommy Hilfiger celebrated the launch of a limited edition “Surf Shack” capsule collection and collaboration with Art Production Fund at No. 8 in Manhattan. Artists Lola Montes Schnabel, Richard Phillips, Scott Campbell, Gary Simmons, and Raymond Pettibon were all asked to apply their talents to design a limited-edition set of surfboards that were on display at Amy Sacco’s clubhouse.