We had incense and rock’n’roll posters, and we sold records and rolling papers. People could just, like, hang out. We had a cool vibe going.

Hilfiger is recalling an early, formative retail experience rooted in youth counterculture—music, posters, incense, and paraphernalia—where the shop functioned as a social space as much as a place of commerce. The emphasis on “hang out” and “vibe” highlights how lifestyle branding can begin as community-building: curating an atmosphere that signals belonging and taste. Read in light of Hilfiger’s later career, the quote suggests that his instinct for fashion marketing grew from understanding subcultural aesthetics and the importance of experiential retail—selling an identity and a scene, not merely products.