The Tommy Jeans Spring 2018 capsule campaign was a celebration of individuality, diversity, and up-and-coming talent, from Atlanta rapper Salma Slims to artists Jelani Blackman and IAMDDB. The video, a very VHS-esque throwback, was shot by photographer and filmmaker Christian Oita.
IAMDDB talks about the vulnerability she expresses through her music while dancing in a Hilfiger neon yellow t-shirt and white hooded sailing jacket.
The new collection, out May 9, comes out at a perfect time, as we’re in the current trifecta of streetwear, (seemingly perpetual) nineties nostalgia, and a deep love of logos, which also has its roots in late ‘90s-early 2000s wistfulness. Tommy Hilfiger burst on the scene in the ‘90s, an introduction by way of rapper Grand Puba, who rapped on an episode of Yo! MTV Raps:
“Well I be Puba on this here/The n***a from last year/Girbauds hanging baggy/Tommy Hilfiger top gear”
From there, the brand took off, replacing Polo as hip hop’s logo of choice. By 1996, Hilfiger had won Menswear Designer of the Year by CFDA and, that year, launched Tommy Jeans, the sportier, younger sibling of Tommy Hilfiger. Aaliyah was one of the brand’s most prominent supporters, a muse of sorts for Tommy Jeans.
With the Spring 2018 capsule, Hilfiger brings back what made the brand pop 20 years earlier: sporty-chic, unisex silhouettes, color-blocked logos, the Tommy underwear band rising just over the band of your pants. And The Fly, the sneaker that debuted in 1997 and was originally made for men, then adapted into a unisex version, will be back too. Slims and IAMDDB model the chunky street shoe with that classic color trio.
The Tommy Jeans revival is also in keeping with the current trend of brands refocusing on denim. With Off-White’s reworked denim and Vetements’ patchwork jeans, fashion is finally finding a way to reinvent the most American of fabrics, as Business of Fashion reported recently. It looks like the low-slung, dare we say, athleisure bagginess of the Tommy Jean could be just what we need this summer.