Tommy Hilfiger is closing 37 of its 44 specialty shops as it struggles to reinvent itself. Tommy Hilfiger has lost its grip on the hip-hop market:

Now the dreadlocks are gone from the advertisements-- and the big red, white and blue "Tommys" are pretty much gone from the streets. The Tommy Hilfiger Corporation has announced that it is moving away from its logo after many of the company's earlier urban constituencies abandoned Tommy for designers they call more "authentic": Fubu, Ecko, Phat Farm, J. Lo and Sean John...

"Tommy, Polo Jeans and Nautica are big losers," said Todd D. Slater, an analyst at Lazard, "but the biggest loser is Tommy; he's lost the most market share. Ralph has not lost his core customer the way Tommy has, he said, referring to Polo Ralph Lauren. "As a company, Tommy has to reinvent itself."

It looks like Tommy Hilfiger rode a fad very skillfully but has not been able to spot new fashion trends, much less create them. Tommy Hilfiger has also suffered from two problems I''ve discussed: excessive reliance on markdowns to move merchandise and depending to heavily on department stores for its sales. Department stores have been losing ground to big box discount retailers and upscale boutiques.