ELMIRA, N.Y. (WETM) – Tommy Hilfiger’s fashion business school is now entering its second year at Elmira College, he took the time to come back home and share some advice with students and talk about what he hopes they gain from the program.

“This is going to give them the real foundation of how fashion businesses are operating and it’s not cookie cutter because every fashion business is run in a different way, there are many different opportunities in the fashion business for jobs, so I think the students seem very enthused,” Hilfiger said.

He also spoke about what this program would have meant for him when he was first building his fashion business right here in Elmira.

“This would have been everything for me. It would have given me a lot of business acumen I never really received until I was forced to learn it on my own.”

After decades in the fashion industry, Tommy has faced ups and downs from his first store in Elmira, named the “people’s place” to the massive brand that we know now and over the course of that time, he has developed the knowledge to move forward, he hopes to pass that on to the students coming through his program.

“Growing up in Elmira, I always looked at Elmira college as very impressive institution… what I didn’t realize was that someday I would be able to create my own program here and that makes me very proud,” Hilfiger said.