Tommy Hilfiger x Harlem’s Fashion Row Design Competition Announces Emerging Designer Clarence Ruth as Winner

Tommy Hilfiger’s eponymous brand and Harlem’s Fashion Row previously facilitated a New Legacy Challenge as part of the TH brand’s “People’s Place Program,” launched in July 2020. 

It has been revealed that newcomer Clarence Ruth is the winner of the 2022 fashion design competition, receiving a grant of $20,000 and the opportunity to co-design a unique capsule collection with Hilfiger. Other finalists in the competition included Megan Smith and Johnathan Hayden.

Cotte D’Armes, Ruth’s label, has captured the judges’ attention. She combines denim and militaristic design elements. According to Ruth, “This opportunity has brought me such creative freedom while learning and growing from Urs Graber, my Tommy Hilfiger mentor. I’m excited to move forward and take everything I’ve experienced and integrate it into my design process, as well as offer my support to Black designers coming after me.”

Hilfiger has shown enthusiasm for the winner and has said, “Our partnership with Harlem’s Fashion Row is rooted in our shared commitment to champion diverse talent and tonight marked a meaningful milestone for us.”

Brandice Daniel, the HFR founder, was honored to “…share the same vision of rising above pipeline issues of diversity and inclusion in the industry, by investing our time, energy, and resources in the next generation of Black fashion icons.”

Ruth’s streetwear and chic biker aesthetic is set to serve as the basis for the TH capsule collection. 

A New Legacy Challenge docuseries will be released on the TH website in April by award-winning filmmaker Luchina Fisher.