Dubai: What started as 'something different' in college led a New York teenager, Tommy, to try out various denim casuals to impress his friends in the late 1970s and early 1980s a time when the casual revolution began to take its toll on formal wear.

It was New York, era of long-play records and bell-bottoms a time when pop culture began to spread across the globe.

"I used to make changes to my clothes to make them more comfortable and a little different from the rest. My classmates began liking them and I used to sell the closthes to them," he says, recalling the past.

"Then I tried something more, different, with a little twist and they liked them more. I used to make them, and they used to buy. I then set up a small shop in New York.

"This is how I started, very casually, trying out things on clothes and sell them," quips Tommy Hilfiger, the man behind the brand that generates $1.6 billion annually.

In 20 years he designed more than five million styles that have been admired by millions of consumers worldwide.

He says Tommy Hilfiger is a global lifestyle brand, "inspired by music, art and pop culture all the fun things in life not just confined to one country. It's global," he says.

"My philosophy is different. Fashion is about music, fun, art and comfort. Nothing in fashion has been invented, rather re-invented. My contribution is in re-invention, with a twist all American classic wear with a twist."

Hilfiger said, his inspiration comes from old movies, classics, from celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Madonna and Nicole Kidman.

"Now, a little more than 20 years, we are the second largest American fashion brand and one of the world's top 10, spreading across 80 per cent of the global market with nearly 500 stores."

After 20 years of continuous growth, the brand, finally, finds its way to the Arabian peninsula.

Tommy Hilfiger opens its first retail store in Dubai today at the Mall of the Emirates, and officials say it will roll out 25 stores in the Gulf countries in the next five years.

Dubai-based Apparel Group, which has secured its regional franchise for the Gulf from India's Murjani Group, said it will position the brand in all the major shopping malls in Dubai. "This is our first store in the Middle East, a market which is vibrant and has strong growth potential," Hilfiger says.

He said tourism will drive the emirate's fashion retail industry.

"Dubai is a very modern market from Mercedes to Armani everything is here. It's another world, extremely impressive," he says.

Strong demand: Battle against fakes is biggest challenge

Apparel, the group that has acquired Tommy Hilfiger franchaise for the Gulf, says, the brand will be represented in almost all the major cities in the Gulf with strong presence in the coming years.

"We are planning to roll out at least 25 stores in the next five years," said Nilesh Ved, chief executive of Apparel Group.

"The brand has a strong demand in this market and we expect its growth will be driven by both tourists and residents in the coming years.

"However, the real challenge will be to check counterfeit products, for which we will continue to rely on the local authorities."

Apparel Group also represents Nine West, Kenneth Cole, Jennyfer, among others and operates 217 stores in the region.