Tommy Hilfiger

“'The Cut' is going to give someone the opportunity of a lifetime and help that person achieve his or her dreams.”

“I looked at my competitors and I thought that, If they could do it, I could do it. And if, they are popular and doing well, I could compete with them.”

“Algebra looked like Chinese characters to me, and I could never get into reading Shakespeare. I just did not get it.”

“My mother was kind and forgiving and would take in all the waifs and strays in our neighbourhood; we always compared her to Mother Teresa. She taught me a lot.”

“I'm a designer of more than clothes. I am a designer of a very creative concept.”

“The road to success is not easy to navigate, but with hard work, drive and passion, it's possible to achieve the American dream.”

“Our look and image never change dramatically from one season to the next, so we need an edge.”

“We had incense and rock'n'roll posters, and we sold records and rolling papers. People could just, like, hang out. We had a cool vibe going.”

“I looked at the rap community like street kids wanting their own brand. But now I look at that period with the rappers in the 90s as a trend of the moment. What it taught me was never to follow a trend, because trends move on.”

“One of the most important things to me is to make things real, not have models who are perfectly groomed or clothes that are too perfect. It all has to have a twist because that's how people live.”

“I disapprove of lots of decisions made by George Bush: the war, the meddling in the affairs of other countries, the conversations with dictators; it was a dark time.”

“Over the last 15 years we've developed our brand into a global brand and we wanted our giving to follow suit.”