In which city was Tommy Hilfiger born?

Tommy Hilfiger was born in Elmira, New York, on March 24, 1951.

Elmira is a city in Chemung County in New York’s Southern Tier, not one of the state’s larger fashion centers. Hilfiger grew up there as the second of nine children in a Catholic, working-class family. His father, Richard, was a watchmaker, while his mother, Virginia, was a nurse.

The city also shaped his earliest business ambitions. As a high-school student in 1969, Hilfiger used $150 to buy bell-bottom jeans in New York City and resell them from his Volkswagen in Elmira. That success helped him open People’s Place, a small clothing store, before he later moved to Manhattan and launched his namesake label in 1985.

A common mix-up is confusing Elmira with New York City, where Hilfiger built his fashion career. Elmira is his birthplace; New York City is central to the later development of his design business.