When the author became involved with Tommy Hilfiger, as a partner in the
company that had the license to sell Hilfiger products in Europe, the
brand was one of fashion’s hottest. Overall sales had more than doubled
from 1997 to 2000. But that came at a price, the author writes. The
brand was too hot, too hyped, and grew too fast. Hilfiger products began
to sell at a discount in the United States—and the company’s designers
started creating stuff that felt like discount clothing. Soon U.S. sales
were falling every year. Meanwhile, the European division had chosen
not to sell the lower-quality versions, had created its own design
center and supply chain, and was increasing sales by roughly 50% a year.
Gehring proposed a strategy for turning the company around—and the
board countered that he should find a buyer. So he did. As the winning
bidder, Apax Partners, a European private equity firm, allowed Gehring
to do a dramatic restructuring and scale back the U.S. business in the
short term, laying the groundwork for the brand’s turnaround in less
than four years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]