Thomas Jacob Hilfiger is the designer behind the Tommy Hilfiger clothing and fragrance lines. Born and raised in Elmira, New York, Tommy Hilfiger started in the fashion industry as a retailer. He opened his first boutique called The People's Place in his hometown, for which he designed clothing under the name Jacob Alan. The People's Place expanded to a small chain of stores before folding in the mid-1970s, prompting Hilfiger's move to New York City and full-time work as a designer. He founded the Tommy Hilfiger corporation in 1984, and introduced his first line of menswear.
