
Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger says his dyslexia inspired him to build his fashion brand. The 65-year-old fashion designer, who launched his clothing range in 1985, said his inability to read well and feeling like dumb in school, is the reason why he started the luxury fashion house at the age of 17, reported Femalefirst. I did it as a result of my inability to read well. I actually didn’t realize I was dyslexic until later on in life, but I thought when I was in school that I was just one of the dumb ones.
Tommy Hilfiger credits dyslexia with inspiring his fashion.
The fashion mogul started to fund his business by running his first shop from the boot of his car. “I drove five hours to New York City and I bought 20 pairs of bell-bottom jeans on the streets in the Village. I took them back to my school parking lot, sold them to my friends out of the trunk of my car, and with the profits I opened my first shop and my business started taking off,” he said
I did it as a result of my inability to read well. I actually didn’t realize I was dyslexic until later on in life, but I thought when I was in school that I was just one of the dumb ones.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
Key takeaways
- Tommy Hilfiger talks how dyslexia affected his life for the first time.
- Being motivated by learning disability dyslexia
- How to still succeed in life even with learning disability
Is your child struggling in school?
Get your free personalized learning roadmap
You describe what you see at home. We turn it into a plan you start this week.
- Answer 5 short questionnaires about what you already notice, 30–45 minutes at your own kitchen table
- Your child sits no test and gets no score: nothing to schedule, nothing for them to dread
- You do the answering, the AI does the writing, and a person reviews it before it reaches you
- Access all 40+ courses instantly: reading, math, focus, processing and more, with new ones added regularly
Why we use AI, plainly: it writes from a knowledge base our team maintains and audits. We work through it line by line and pull anything the evidence stops supporting. The roadmap you get on Tuesday reflects what we corrected on Monday, and a human still reads it before you do.
Your school district must evaluate your child free of charge if you ask in writing, whatever your income and whatever the outcome (US, 34 CFR 300.111 and 300.301(b)). That route takes time and answers a different question than you do. This one starts today, from what you already know.
Your answers stay yours. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not hand identifiable assessment data to outside AI companies to train their models.
A screener is a starting point, not a diagnosis. If your child might need formal accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan), or you suspect a vision, hearing or medical cause, pursue a professional evaluation too. That is the only route to those supports.



