GETTING THE SOFT SHOULDER; THE DESIGNER WHO DISCOVERED RALPH LAUREN AND BROUGHT BURBERRY TO THE U.S. SOUNDS OFF ON TAILORED CLOTHING.

Daily News Record, August, 2005 by Pallay, Jessica

Byline: Jessica Pallay

NEW YORK -- Norman Hilton has returned to the place where it all started. The 86-year-old men's wear legend is sitting in a hotel lobby, just blocks away from his alma matter, Princeton University, recalling the inspiration that began his tailored clothing business nearly 60 years ago.

Despite his onset of Parkinson's disease, his memory is acute as he tells the story of his label's birth. "When I came to Princeton for college, my mother had dressed me in the look of the time -- jackets with broad shoulders, high-waisted pants," he remembers. "The guys that came from prep schools wore soft-shouldered tweed jackets, narrow-fitting pants without pleats. They were the big men on campus. They were the guys I wanted to imitate."...

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