Hilfiger-Paskowitz Team-Up Looks Tubular

The unlikely union between Tommy Hilfiger Inc. and the surfing Paskowitz family appears to have clicked. The clothing designer is sponsoring the Paskowitz Summer Surf camp for a second consecutive year.

In fact, the connection worked so well that Hilfiger this year made T-shirts and hats bearing both the Hilfiger and Paskowitz Surf Camp names. The merchandise was delivered to about 1,000 stores nationwide with Hilfiger’s spring shipment and sold out before summer arrived.

“It was a great seller for us,” a Hilfiger spokeswoman said.

Hilfiger hooked up with the surfing clan last year as a marketing tool to help the designer achieve fans in the finicky world of surfing, where authenticity is everything. The clearly authentic Paskowitz family operates the surf camp from June through September each year at San Onofre State Beach.

While Hilfiger took some early ribbing from surfers who figured the New Yorker wouldn’t know what surfers wanted, family spokesman Jonathan Paskowitz said the designer has tuned into the market.

Gone, for example, is the scoffed-at netting that was once stitched into Hilfiger board shorts.

“They’ve asked the questions and taken the criticism,” Paskowitz said. “They’re making aloha shirts and surfing trunks that are far superior to their original attempts.”