Tommy Hilfiger Teams Up With Atlantic Recording Artist Jewel for Exciting Fashion and Music Endeavors

Business Wire, June 29, 1999

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--June 29, 1999--

Tommy Hilfiger Sponsors Jewel's "Spirit" Tour and Features

the Artist in His National Fall 1999 Advertising Campaign

Designer Tommy Hilfiger announced today that the Company's women's sportswear division will team up with multi-platinum Atlantic recording artist Jewel in a joint `fashion and music' venture. Hilfiger will sponsor Jewel's North American summer "SPIRIT" tour as well as feature the artist in his national fall 1999 advertising campaign for his women's sportswear collection.

Jewel's concert itinerary (dates attached) will mark the first North American tour in support of her current Atlantic album "SPIRIT," and her first full-scale U.S. tour since the summer of 1997. The two- month itinerary opened June 25th in Bakersfield, California and will hit major arenas and amphitheaters across the country. The tour sponsorship and the ad campaign are part of the designer's continuing celebration of 1999 as "The Year in Music."

"Like the title of her album, Jewel represents the true `spirit' of the Tommy Hilfiger woman," said Tommy Hilfiger. "Jewel not only encompasses inner and outer beauty, but she has a unique and elegant style. Her musical talents and influence are revealed in her beautiful voice and moving lyrics. Beyond music, her force as a positive and inspirational role model for women is shown in her passion and concern for world issues and her personal career growth. I cannot think of a more suitable female musician who best personifies the Tommy Hilfiger image. I am thrilled to be working with her."

Atlantic Records Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Shapiro commented, "At Atlantic, we are aggressive in the fostering of appropriate cross-marketing opportunities for our artists, and the bridge between music and fashion is clearly an ideal arena for building creative, fruitful partnerships. There are few people who realize the possibilities of such alliances as brilliantly as Tommy Hilfiger, and we couldn't be more thrilled that he has joined with Jewel for this major campaign. The additional exposure which Tommy's commitment will bring to Jewel and her music will surely reinforce her role as one of the most gifted and inspiring young women in America today."

In addition to the title sponsorship, Hilfiger will celebrate the "SPIRIT" tour with his national women's sportswear advertising campaign. The new campaign will bring fashion and music together by featuring concert photos of Jewel paired with images from the fall women's sportswear collection. Shot in New York City, the ad campaign recreates the designer's 1999 fall runway fashion show and features Tommy Hilfiger model Rebecca Romijn-Stamos as well as models Joy Bryant and Gretha Cavazzoni. All of the images from the campaign will be tagged, "TOMMY HILFIGER WOMEN'S SPORTSWEAR PRESENTS JEWEL."

Breaking in August in the New York Times Fashion of the Times Magazine, the ads will continue to run throughout the season in books such as Elle, Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Jane, Marie Claire, Vanity Fair, Vogue and W. In addition, the campaign will be featured on billboards scheduled for New York and Los Angeles and will appear in August.

In conjunction with the tour, Tommy Hilfiger will run retail and radio promotions in all "Spirit" tour markets across the country. In each market, the designer will offer `enter to win' contests for tickets to the sound check session and concert, as well as Tommy Hilfiger women's wardrobe worth $500. In addition, customers making purchases of $50 or more in the Tommy Hilfiger women's sportswear and in select women's footwear departments will receive a special gift with purchase.

The announcement follows Hilfiger's successful sponsorship of the Rolling Stones "No Security" Tour and is the designer's most recent endeavor devoted to music related activities. Other ventures include tommy girl's sponsorship and representation of the `spirit' of the Lilith Fair and Tommy Jean's sponsorship of the Britney Spear's North American Tour. The Company is also sponsoring the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute Exhibition entitled Rock Style that opens on December 9, 1999 and continues through March 19, 2000. This exhibition is a joint project between the Costume Institute and the Rock `n' Roll Hall of Fame on a selection of major rock artists who have influenced style from the 1950's to present. Following the Costume Institute, the exhibit will move to the Rock `n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and will be on view from May 12 through September 10, 2000.

Jewel made her recording debut in 1995 with the release of her first album, "PIECES OF YOU." Recently certified nine-times platinum by the RIAA, the album includes the hit singles, "You Were Meant for Me," "Who Will Save your Soul," and "Foolish Games." "SPIRIT," Jewel's second album, was released by Atlantic in November 1998 and its debut at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album--which features "Hands," "Down So Long," and the new single, "Jupiter (Swallow The Moon)"--has been certified RIAA triple-platinum and is about to hit the four million mark in U.S. sales. Jewel's considerable achievements as a singer, songwriter and performer represent just one area of her creative life. Her first book of poetry, A Night Without Armor, was published last year and became a mainstay on the New York Times bestseller list. This fall, she will make her acting debut in Ride With The Devil, the new film from acclaimed director Ang Lee ("Sense and Sensibility," "The Ice Storm").