DOES THE REALITY SHOW MAKE THE DESIGNER?
By Tracie Rozhon, NEW YORK TIMES

OVER kaleidoscopic images of striped shirts, red-white-and-blue logos, flashing lights and a zooming red Ferrari, a man's disembodied voice intones: "If you've ever turned on a television, opened a magazine or gone shopping, you know who I am."

In the first episode of "The Cut," to be broadcast on Thursday, Mr. Hilfiger is blunt with some of the 16 contestants. At one point he told one in a green T-shirt and chinos, "You don't look like you care about style."

As the television show unfolds, the camera cuts to the speaker. "My name is Tommy Hilfiger," he says. "People around the world know the name and know the fashion. But the road to fame wasn't easy."

Nor has it always been a one-way street. Mr. Hilfiger's reputation has waxed and waned, often reflecting his company's latest sales or profit figures - or speculation about its dealings with regulators. His company's stock is still depressed from the beating it has taken over the last six years. The Justice Department, meanwhile, is investigating the company itself for possible tax evasion.

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