Tommy Hilfiger returned to New York Fashion Week on Thursday, 10 September, by turning his former home, The Plaza Hotel, into his runway.
The veeran designer unveiled his Spring/Summer 2027 collection inside the iconic Midtown landmark, where he and his wife, Dee, once lived for more than a decade, transforming a fashion show into a deeply personal New York homecoming.
Models swept through the storied hotel as Hilfiger reclaimed one of the city's most recognisable addresses, with supermodel Gigi Hadid opening the star-studded presentation in a relaxed look of loose red trousers, a tan jacket and navy bucket hat.
A New Take On Tommy Classics
While the 75-year-old designer was revisiting a deeply personal chapter of his past, the clothes were firmly aimed at the future.
Hilfiger's latest collection takes the preppy American classics that built his fashion empire and loosens them up for a younger generation, with oversized polo shirts, plaid bucket hats, bright red and navy, flowing silk and relaxed tailoring dominating the runway.
The result was unmistakably Tommy, but with the polish and formality stripped away.
It was also a fitting setting for a designer whose career has long been intertwined with the mythology of New York.
From Plaza Penthouse to Fashion Runway
Hilfiger and Dee previously lived in a lavish duplex penthouse inside The Plaza, creating a home filled with the kind of extravagant interiors that matched the designer's larger-than-life image.
The couple eventually sold the roughly 6,000-square-foot property in 2019 for $33.25 million, after years on the market.
Now, years after leaving their former home behind, Hilfiger was back, this time bringing an army of models, celebrities and fashion insiders with him.
The show marked his return to the official New York Fashion Week calendar after a hiatus, following a period in which he took his fashion spectacles to unconventional locations and international cities.
He had already made a highly publicised New York comeback in February 2024, when he staged his Fall 2024 show at Grand Central Terminal's Oyster Bar. Later that year, he presented his Spring 2025 collection aboard a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry, continuing his habit of turning New York landmarks into fashion stages.
But The Plaza was different. After all, it was somewhere Hilfiger had actually called home.
A Star-Studded New York Homecoming
The personal connection was reflected in the atmosphere surrounding Thursday's event, which attracted a dazzling crowd of stars including Kate Moss, Camila Cabello, JISOO, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Suni Lee, Victoria Monét, Lisa Rinna and Victoria Justice.
The designer has increasingly surrounded the Tommy Hilfiger brand with a new generation of celebrity faces, from Gigi Hadid and JISOO to Travis Kelce, Peggy Gou and Frances Tiafoe.
Kelce, who recently appeared in Hilfiger's campaign alongside his dog Wendy, couldn't attend the show because of his football commitments.
Yet the football star's presence was still felt in an unexpected way.
A Samoyed resembling Wendy appeared alongside Hilfiger at the finale, echoing the campaign imagery and adding another playful celebrity moment to the spectacle.
Did a Wendy Kelce dupe closed out Tommy Hilfiger’s Spring 2027 runway show at The Plaza Hotel today? The fluffy dog looked a lot like Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Samoyed, Wendy, who recently made her modeling debut alongside her daddy Travis in Hilfiger’s Fall 2026 campaign. pic.twitter.com/JroB3rhrPC
— deuxmoi (@deuxmoiworld) September 10, 2026
Making the Classics Feel New Again
Behind all the famous faces, however, Hilfiger's strategy is remarkably straightforward: make the classics feel new again.
Rather than abandoning the red, white and blue DNA that made his name, he is updating it with oversized silhouettes, brighter colours and a more relaxed attitude.
This approach is increasingly visible across American fashion, as heritage brands try to capture the attention of younger shoppers without sacrificing the identities that made them famous.
For Hilfiger, that means making Tommy feel less like a relic of 1990s Americana and more like a living brand for a new generation.
And there may have been no better place to make that statement than The Plaza. The hotel has been a fixture of New York glamour for more than a century. Hilfiger once knew it as home.
On Thursday, he returned as its host.
The penthouse may be gone, but for one afternoon, Tommy Hilfiger had The Plaza back.
