Behind the Bentley flavors Hilfiger its peak days

  NEW YORK - If you wake up like Tommy Hilfiger, the possibilities are almost endless day.

Perhaps you are flying to Paris or Hong Kong for business or for fun, the beautiful island of Mystique. Really, if he wanted, he could only sit in his apartment at the Plaza SUPER LUXE with views of Central Park, the organization of dozens of pins up to sit on his desk in the library.

This is not like Tommy, though. He loves to work. He wants to work.

He is in the fashion industry for over 40 years from a small shop denim Elmira, NY, and now head of a brand, one of the most famous in the world. This spring, he added advisor "American Idol"-style to her resume.

Peers to the Council of Fashion Designers of America honored him on Monday night with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

But Tommy Hilfiger, as previous winners in the last year, says Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors in 2010, he feels a little young. "I remember when we were young guys," he said of himself and other winners. "I thought,` Lifetime Achievement "was for her 70 years."

Yes, he's 61, he admits, but there is still much to do. He ended his acceptance speech before a crowd, Jessica Chastain and Kyra Sedgwick Hollywood, and Anna Wintour, Donna Karan and the fashion world is contained in the words, "vote. Stay"

The Associated Press with Tommy several times that day to get an idea of ​​how it's got to live in his skin checked. (Black pants, no socks, in the way.)

"In the shower in the morning, I was thinking,` Do I have to pinch myself? "He said, moments after he arrived in chauffeur-driven Bentley to the morning dress rehearsal of the ceremony at Lincoln Center. There is a clear dark blue suit with no tie, and, literally, he jumped up, despite rain is forcing him to wear a tartan plaid umbrella.

Spend more than a few minutes with Tommy, we notice that it moves quickly and efficiently.

He makes his way through the labyrinth of the stage to Diane von Furstenberg, president of the CFDA, catch, as they wound their own training. He ignored his iPhone, which makes the sound of the waves as she talks, and applauded for her when she did - the only one in the room who does.

It goes way back with von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger, explains, and she was the one who sent the e-mail with news from the CFDA scholarship. "She was congratulating me, but I had to scroll down to find out why!"

It would be asked almost nothing of Furstenberg, he said. And she does: She wants him to dinner for a good cause to participate. He wants, and then he asks her to do the same.

Many people, the way has managed to have good reasons, he said. Are his Autism Awareness Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington.

After a kiss duplicate pieces for von Furstenberg, Tommy Hilfiger gets an overview of what is included and installed in the CFDA 50th Anniversary display are included. It must, must necessarily be a navy blue blazer, said a show producer, and the team is an example of his signature bandana looking prints.

This enables a quick admission of Tommy, but he does not like his head is cut in a photo. It is supported - just like that.

He wants to know if he can give a preview of the speech Wintour of Vogue editor-in to hear. This is a partial yes, Wintour stand-in reading a few lines of the teleprompter, but the rest will remain as a surprise.

Hilfiger is behind the podium, and he makes sure all of your friends and family members, he says he also wishes to thank its customers. Hilfiger took some flak with an eye for more commercial artists that the industry is clean, but not many of them slowed down outside Bentley.

"OK, let's go," he said, and it is paid, the movement back to the car, some logistics for the rest of his days, including, where is he and his wife Dee at the ceremony, and he wonders where they retain the trophy, it is a quick conversation with Kenneth Cole -. which come to the dinner plans for more.

Next on the agenda, interviews with foreign reporters at his Fifth Avenue store, a meeting with its corporate donors, Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., a consultation with his design team on the collections of the September Fashion Week in New York and a 45 - minute catch with his son, who is visiting in California.

It goes back to the apartment to put his tuxedo Plaza, he pairs of shoes in patent leather formal lace-up and put you on the phone. It comes with the strips instead of solid black, because he wanted "a little more fun."

He sits on the couch of velvet, which is bookended by the animal-print stools and seems like he took his first deep breaths of the day. He emphasized the peonies of congratulations sent to him Kors. Flowers so beautiful Narciso Rodriguez are in the other room. "Flowers are nice gestures," he said.

Hilfiger would rise again when his wife comes from her great staircase lined with an orange jumpsuit. , She joking that they light the color of sorbet they chose to be able to find it when he sees the scene.

"You can not miss in this area," said Dee.

But Tommy has almost miss the red carpet, he was one of the youngest. For all his fame and effectiveness Hilfiger can not control the traffic of Manhattan, especially on a night that President Barack Obama holds fundraisers.

"I must have been asked 12 times if I'm nervous. I'm excited, I am humbled, I am honored, but I do not think that nervous. Should I be nervous?" He said, shortly before the gets inside.

He stumbles into the model Karolina Kurkova, who is dressed in Hilfiger. "It's such a good guy. He would not have lasted so long if it does not," says Kurkova.

Hilfiger photographers hired last year right in front of the door. There is a big smile. He enjoys the limelight - or perhaps more like it enjoy.

"It's a wonderful moment in time, but it could be dangerous to think that this is the ultimate moment," he says. "This is an allusion to a lot of respect, but I'm back to work."

They must wait for a trip to Mystic.