All aboard the Staten Island Ferry For Tommy Hilfiger

One man’s $280,100 money pit is another’s ideal fashion show venue! Last night, for his spring/summer '25 show, Tommy Hilfiger brought guests aboard New York’s hottest club, the decommissioned Staten Island Ferry, which was recently purchased by SNL’s Colin Jost and alum Pete Davidson. (“Hey man, is this your boat?” one attendee asked Jost shortly before the show began.)

Guests were greeted on the top deck by waiters offering containers of Tommy Hilfiger-branded popcorn – a welcome sight for the fashion editors who probably haven’t had a proper meal all week.

Despite starting before sunset it was unquestionably a starry night on the ferry which had been tugged from Staten Island to the South Street Seaport for the occasion. As Vogue’s Sam Sussman remarked, the VIP tip sheet was dissertation length. Aboard the boat, Damson Idris found his way to his seat early and chatted with fellow early bird influencers and editors. Nearby, Olympians Suni Lee and Gabby Thomas fielded congratulations on their athletic prowess, Lee had attended the Off-White show earlier in the day in Brooklyn but for Thomas, in a herringbone blazer and cable knit sweater dress, it was the gold medalist’s first fashion show. But all hell truly broke loose when Blackpink’s Jisoo arrived, sending a frenzy of photographers clamouring to snap her picture. Madelyn Cline, knowing she faced an uphill battle trying to get to her seat, plopped down next to Idris and waited out the deluge of photographers and social media editors.

But the lull in fanfare didn’t last long. Soon enough, two members of Stray Kids, the startlingly handsome Lee Know and Felix, who looks like an elfin prince. The freakout gave distinguished Ferry Owner (and, hopefully, Working Girl enthusiast) Jost and his SNL castmate Marcello Hernández cover to run to their seats relatively unnoticed. Brooke Shields, equal emblem of ‘80s Americana, slipped into her seat without the K-Pop agita of her neighbours.

Attendees were treated to a show filled with ab-baring sweaters, cargo pedal pushers, Madras checks and trench coats galore. But just when guests thought the show was dying down, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, and Raekwon (backed by Questlove on the decks – DJ not boat) of Staten Island’s own Wu-Tang Clan closed out the show. The surprise performance of “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Ice Cream” injected some much-needed life into a group of weary guests – although the magnitude of the moment was lost on some. “Who ees thees?” a Frenchman seated next to me asked. As he worked his way through the crowd, Method Man stopped to dap up Idris, and offered Anna Wintour a fist bump – which, to much delight, she returned.