they've made tommy hilfiger a king of american apparent. st night, at his star-studded 25th anniversary show. >> we've been seeing his pieces for so long, they've been just a part of our culture at this point. >> tommy, happy 25th anniversary. >> reporter: but his story is rise and fall from fashion's good graces, as distinctly american as his clothes. today, tommy hilfiger leads a $4 billion fashion empire. >> we own our own shoe company now so we wanted to make sure the shoe looks like a tommy hilfiger shoe, red, white and blue. >> reporter: but he's seen his way through bankruptcy, a backlash of bad press, and somehow survived a baggy jean and logo era he'd rather forget. is there anything you designed that you wish you could pull from the atmosphere, bury and never see again? >> well, as you look back, you know, i probably overdid big logos to an exhausting point in the '90s. i mean, the traffic on fifth avenue is incredible -- >> reporter: we visited hilfiger at his new flagship store on new york's fifth avenue. should i be rocking this

please welcome tommy hilfiger. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: tommy hil -- tommy hilfiger.u for letting me also crash your table at the met ball. we had a great time that night. >> you made us laugh all night. >> jimmy: i tried to. but it was a fun table. >> i liked it when you did mick better than mick. >> jimmy: mick jagger was at our table. and i was just at the table going like -- [ as mick jagger ] "can you pass the sugar right now? --cream on that." just being annoying until they threw me out. >> if you put on a blindfold, you would think mick was sitting in his home. >> jimmy: yeah, no, mick was holding a knife up to my throat. [ as mick jagger ] >> "i don't talk like that." >> jimmy: yeah. >> "stop doing business." [ as mick jagger ] >> jimmy: "stop doing me. i don't talk like that." [ as mick jagger ] >> "not at all. pass the salt." [ as mick jagger ] >> jimmy: "not at all." yeah. 25th anniversary, big anniversary. congratulations, buddy. can you believe it's happened so fast? [ cheers and applause ] >> i can't. i can't. >> jimmy: amazing. you had a big show the ot

coming up tommy hilfiger's fashion empire. >> the american >>> we return now to designer tommy hilfigerhe 25th anniversary of his clothing line. >> and while the world celebrates fashion week, the fashion world celebrates hilfiger and his multibillion-dollar empire. here now is sharyn alfonsi. >> reporter: his clothes, his look are uniquely american. they've made tommy hilfiger a king of american apparel, as evidenced at his star-studded 25th anniversary fashion show and lavish afterparty at the metropolitan opera house. but hilfiger's story, his rise and fall from fashion's good graces, has been as distinctly american as his clothes. today tommy hilfiger leads a $4 billion fashion empire, but he's seen his way through bankruptcy, a backlash of bad press, and somehow survived a baggy jean and logo era he'd rather forget. we visited hilfiger at his new flagship store on new york's 5th avenue. >> should i be rocking this look? >> well, this shows that it's the fall season, it's football season. this is what you should wear to the stadium. >> reporter: and this is what you should wear when

sew said no, no, no, go by your real name because nobody else has the name tommy hilfiger. hink people can really pronounce yves st. laurent? >> reporter: with that first line hilfiger established himself as a classic american brand. >> i love iconic america. i love hollywood. i love rock and roll. and i wanted to incorporate that inspiration into my design work. >> reporter: and soon he was an all-american success story. his company was generating $100 million in revenues. ♪ but then somehow, somewhere it took a turn. >> in 1992 you kind of embraced street wear. is that fair to say? >> street wear was actually embracing me. because my preppie clothes became so popular amongst kids in boarding schools, colleges. all of a sudden the youth on the street started wearing my athletic-inspired clothes with the big logos. ♪ the boys are back in town >> reporter: hilfiger returned to his preppie roots and expanded them, creating a billion-dollar global brand by selling the idea of american prep to europe. >> the american dream is alive and well, where you can have a dream, you can b

>> reporter: designer tommy hilfiger got his start selling jeans from his basement.s 25th anniversary, the fashion legend outfits preps and hip-hop stars aalike. a lot of people think of tommy hilfiger and they say it's all-american, preppy. >> i would say that and i would also say cool american classic because it's classic with a bit of a twist. >> reporter: after laying low in the '90s, preppy has once again reinvented itself. this time led by pop stars and gossip girls. >> pop culture has a lot to do with the way we live our lives. music and fashion and art and entertainment. something that you can't really put your finger on, can't really touch but it's something you can sort of live your life by. >> reporter: and tomorrow the updated preppy handbook "true prep" provides guidelines for the new generation. what do you think about preppy makes it a classic? >> i think because it's here today and here tomorrow. it's something that will never really go out of style. >> reporter: an amazing feat when you consider just how far preppy has come. ♪ >> you know, these days

you can see it in the new line of tommy hilfiger clothing.ou can see it in an explosion of uber prep websites and blogs like summer is a verb. you can see it at nantucket's westmore club with drinks. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: before noon. >> it's like macaroni and cheese really. it's comforting. it's familiar. >> reporter: you can even see it in the white house. >> is barack obama preppy. >> well, he is and i'll tell you why. he went to punahoe, the largest private school in the united states in hawaii for 13 years. he's athletic. he smokes. >> reporter: and he married a princeton girl. with this clear resurgence there was a clear need, guidance. >> the world changed around us so much that preppies need a manual to sort of get through these rough times that we're living in. >> reporter: this week lisa released "true prep," the new bible for preppies. as the book says it's a whole new old world. how so? first off -- >> way more inclusive. we talk about black preppies. we have a section on the gay preppy. gay preppies were basically

he is wearing a tommy hilfiger 25th anniversary collection from head to toe. blue tie with a modern twist with a european edge. the bravest of men can do it. >> thank you very much. next up, we will move on to a retro glam look. this is alexis and hugo. >> we are so excited about this dress. it's a fun piece. >> 20s inspired. it's slim and beautiful beading. this is by lazaro and has these chiffon ruffles. this is a hot trend. easy to dance in. >> three pieces is a way to go if you want to be totally retro. you want to leave it sharp. i love the cuff links and the contrast. >> thank you, guys. we are going to bring in the third choice. classic elegance modelled by dante. >> here you see we went with a very classic look and lace. the champagne lace is really beautiful. and the thing about this is the satin bow it gives it a modern look. it goes around and it's sexy in the back. >> very pretty. it's great. >> why not have the groom wear something pale to have it be really dreamy. we did a great silk tie. talk about a two-button jacket that shines, this is the on

. ♪ >> the last show of new york fashion week was a tommy hilfiger show.and this show has particular significance because it is the last show to be held here in the bryant park where the shows have been for ages. we move up next season to lincoln center. so, this show has some special, sort of sentimental value. there are a number of trends that have bubbled to the surface so far in new york fashion week. we're looking at metallics. this is something that's been in the stores for a while -- gold, silver, copper, bronze. the difference, is you're wearing them for day. we saw this at a number of different shows -- tory burch, vera wang, isaac mizrahi. you're taking the metallic stuff and not just wearing it out at night. you're wearing it potentially to work with a great little camel-colored coat over it. another trend we're seeing for fall is neutrals, and i'm not talking black and navy and gray, although those are still fine. the big trend is towards camel-colored clothes. we're seeing a lot of denim, a lot of fringe, a little leather, cowgirl shades of sh