Fashionable Frugality Renders Bum Style Icon

Duluth, MN 

Local vagrant Thomas Stringer hit it big this week, when he was plucked from obscurity by visiting fashion industry associates from the Tommy Hilfiger brand, and hired as an interim design team member of Hilfiger, Inc.   

Stagnation in the national economy has created a pattern of reduced spending on fashion, and recycled clothing has found new appeal. It’s a trend that is now being duplicated in high society circles. As a function of the appeal of “cheap chic”, fashion-forward designers are now taking notice of the unique stylistic approaches of hobos, vagrants, and the generally downtrodden. 

“It’s totally American, and it’s totally hot right now,” said industry maven Hilfiger, “there’s nothing more cutting edge than wearing items repurposed from household items like shower curtains and bedding, or sliding into clothing that is worn out, clearly outgrown, or never fit in the first place. Floods aren’t duds, honey. Not in this fashion environment.”   

Stringer was approached on Tuesday by agents of the Hilfiger brand, while he tried to solicit quarters from a man at a parking meter on First Street.   

“It was his whole look,” explained Clara Martin, a Hilfiger protégé, “he was dirty, he was unkempt, he was slightly jaundiced, and he just had that ‘earthy’ look. He was wearing this vintage Marlboro jacket and some Wrangler jeans with mysterious stains, and I just thought ‘this guy IS Hilfiger 2010.’”   

Asked how he felt about this new opportunity, Stringer indicated that he was looking forward to designing for the masses. He has already sketched designs for boxer shorts made from carpet scraps and a series of evening gowns fashioned from bubble wrap and library book covers. 

"I think I still have a lot of drop cloths in a storage garage in Mankato," Stringer furthered, "I might use them for a line of wedding gowns that I've been thinking on."  

Stringer’s line is slated to hit the runway in Spring of 2010.