Spurred on by trailblazers such as Tyler the Creator and kids everywhere from Soho, New York to Soho, London, it's a movement many call prep, some call Ivy or Trad, and some have named it grown-up streetwear. The terminology may be undefined, but whatever it is, it's taking its cues from prep's many faces of the past and reinterpreting them for 2022.
Having been around for several phases of prep reinventions, Tommy Hilfiger's new SS22 collection seeks to embrace this 'new prep' and be part of its revival once again. Always ones for heralding those that are at the forefront of movements and the reinterpretations of this once dusty elite look, Tommy has called upon the dazzling talent of Indya Moore to explain what prep means to them. While Indya's style might not be what some might call prep, Indya's mentality and outlook on style and belonging is something that new prep embodies wholly.
Indya Moore dresses with purpose, forgetting any preconceived traditions or rules to a look. In a new video put together by Tommy and Highsnobiety, Moore explains that the preppy movement has been one of revolution. Whilst the look may have originated on college campuses, it was the Jazz superstars, beat poets, Black Ivy, hardcore punk bands, Japanese subcultures, hip-hop backpackers, et al. that made the look what it is today, together they are all part of the story. It has evolved, reinvented itself, decade after decade, rewriting the rules for the next generation of subversive movements to take up the style mantel and flip it on its head again.
Tommy's role in this timeline of evolution has empowered individuals to look at the fun in prep. While others buttoned up and appealed to an exclusive demographic, Tommy sought to open doors and shirt buttons to a less uniform, more inspiring, and witty take on prep. A look that should be mixed and matched. Tailoring and sportswear, suits and streetwear, loafers and track pants. They want to provide the tools, and it's yours to do with them what you please.
Tommy Hilfiger's new collection celebrates people like Indya and the new collectives of like-minded individuals opening the doors of fashion and prep to everyone, subverting the rules set up by the powers that be not only redefining the style of the movement but the style of our values. Traditional Tommy Hilfiger staples like the cricket jumper, sports jacket, and chino are given new contemporary shapes, cuts, and details. The collection carries with it the irreverent values of past Tommy collections. It's giving us Raekwon and Snoop, it's giving us Miles Davis and Jack Kerouac, it's giving us Aaliyah and everything and everyone in between.
This is prep but not as we know it.
Shop the new Tommy Hilfiger SS22 Collection here.
