Tommy Hilfiger’s NYFW Show Cured Jake Shane’s Imposter Syndrome
It’s 4 P.M. on September 8 in New York City. Imposter syndrome always feels a bit dramatic until you experience it. I am standing in my hotel room looking at the open doors to my closet. The space is filled with my everyday wear: gym clothes and sweats. But the crisp white shirt and perfectly tailored pants, selected for me and tailored by the Tommy Hilfiger team, are freshly hung up and staring back at me. It is in moments like these when my imposter syndrome sets in and I think to myself, What in God’s name am I doing at New York Fashion Week?
Full disclosure: I have had the privilege of attending two Tommy Hilfiger shows in the past year, but I’m still a Front Row Virgin. Each show has topped the last, and his latest was no exception. Tommy perfectly encapsulates the spirit of New York—for me, having grown up in the city and moved to Los Angeles, witnessing live love letters to NYC is always really special. Last season, the runway show was at the iconic Grand Central Oyster Bar, and this time around, it was on the Staten Island Ferry, docked at Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport.
By the end of the show, sitting with a red sweatshirt casually draped over my shoulders and sunglasses hooked off my shirt as the sun set over the Brooklyn Bridge, I realized…my imposter syndrome had subsided. Tommy and his clothes make fashion approachable and welcoming. I have always viewed high fashion as this sort of separate entity from the clothes I could actually buy in a store—more like wearable art for people with the “right look”—one I do not have. In Tommy’s spring/summer 2025 show, though, I found myself taking photos of the models because I wanted to follow up on the clothes after—to wear myself. Was it because the clothes were cute? Yes. But it was also because of the inviting environment cultivated by Tommy and his team.
Another thing that makes the shows so incredible to witness is Tommy’s dedication and involvement. It encourages a sense of excitement for the viewer—if the namesake and owner of the brand is still excited about his art years into his career, why shouldn’t we be? Tommy Hilfiger has been a staple in wardrobes across America since 1985, and now, 40 years later, the brand has managed to stay true to its heritage while constantly reinventing itself with the times.
I never thought I would sit front row at fashion week. In fact, I gave up on my love for fashion (derived from old episodes of America’s Next Top Model, of course) and the modeling industry shortly after I realized my height might be a major setback in casting calls. Since then, the industry has felt like a lunch table in high school I wasn’t invited to sit at, an uncrackable code. But Tommy Hilfiger makes everyone feel like they have a seat at the table. So, it wasn’t only exciting to sit front row at the show—it was vindicating.
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