Few designers have stayed on top of changing trends the way Tommy Hilfiger has. Fewer still have left such an indelible mark on global culture. Since designing his first collection of “classics with a twist” three decades ago, Tommy Hilfiger has been synonymous with all-American style—but his destiny wasn’t always so clear. Growing up one of nine children in a working-class family in Elmira, New York, Hilfiger suffered from dyslexia, flunked sophomore year of high school, and found himself constantly at odds with his father. Nevertheless, this self-described dreamer had a vision and the relentless will to make it a reality. American Dreamer: My Live in Fashion & Business (Ballantine Books), co-authored with Peter Knobler, is a story of grit and glamour, setbacks and comebacks from his years as a club kid and scrappy entrepreneur in 1970s New York to his unique insights into the exclusive A-list personalities with whom he’s collaborated and interacted, from Mick Jagger and David Bowie to Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. American Dreamer is much more than just a fashion icon’s memoir—it’s a road map for building a brand, both professionally and personally. And it is the story of a true American original, told for the first time in his own words, with honesty, humor, and the insatiable appetite for life and style, which proves that, sometimes, you have to dream big to make it big.