THIS MUCH I KNOW

Fashion designer

Tommy Hilfiger

I used to adore Mickey Mouse and watching

The Mickey Mouse Club. I grew up in Elmira, New York. The house was small, but pleasant. I had eight brothers and sisters so it was noisy. Our TV was black and white and we’d all huddle round to watch.

My relationship with my father in the earlier

years was strange. He wanted me to be a grade A student. He wanted me to go to an Ivy League school. I wasn’t great at school. It was only after I became successful that he realised I was more disciplined than he’d thought.

Being a fashion brand doesn’t have that

depth of importance. I would rather be remembered for my philanthropy and my involvement with autism. I have children who have been affected by autism, a sister with MS and a daughter with Lyme disease. I want to do what I can.

I used to really mind getting older, but I’m calm about it now. I had a lot fun when I was younger. But I feel grounded and secure with my life and in my youth I wasn’t completely satisfied with where I was. I always thought I needed to be more successful. I now avoid drama and trauma.

I don’t cook. You wouldn’t want anything I cooked anyway. At home we eat organic, but I travel a lot and tend to eat out. I’ve been buried under an avalanche in Austria. I was helicopter skiing and went off a cliff. I went into shock. I was with a ski instructor and I was trying to follow him and got caught on an edge. Luckily I was wearing a beeper and he dug me out. I was buried for just under an hour. I’m pretty boring when it comes to clothes. I have 50 white shirts, 50 chinos, 50 pairs of jeans and 25 pairs of white sneakers. Some navy and grey suits and black and brown shoes. It’s more of a uniform. Morwenna Ferrier AMERICAN DREAMER BY TOMMY HILFIGER WITH PETER KNOBLER (BALLANTINE, $35) IS ON SALE NOW.