Abby Champion is used to running circles around a runway.
But that doesn’t mean she’s not still pinching herself when she steps up to New York Fashion Week every year—especially when it comes to representing Tommy Hilfiger.
“I had the most all-American way of growing up and I feel like being a part of this takes me back to that,” she shared exclusively on Live From E! Stream: Tommy Hilfiger Spring 2027 Runway Show Sept 10. “It just brings me back to my younger self when I was in high school wearing Tommy Hilfiger. I’m like, ‘This is a full-circle moment.’”
As for the intense prep the 29-year-old—who married Patrick Schwarzenegger last September—usually undergoes for the runway, this show at the iconic Plaza Hotel in New York City has been among the more relaxed she’s ever done.
“It’s been very chill this morning,” she revealed. “I got here very early, enough time for hair and makeup. Seeing lots of familiar faces, and we’re just kind of having a very chill lead up until the show, it’s been great.”
In fact, being back around her industry friends is one of her favorite parts of NYFW every year.
“Throughout the year, you don’t see all the designers and the models and the stylists,” Champion explained. “So, it’s fun to just catch up and see everyone in one environment.”
Plus, there’s nothing like strutting down a runway.
“Just the adrenaline of shows,” she gushed of the highlight, “it’s always so much fun.”
This show is also a particularly special one for Tommy Hilfiger himself, as he and wife Dee Ocleppo lived in The Plaza for more than a decade.
“I've long been inspired by American icons, and there are few places that embody that spirit more than The Plaza,” Hilfiger said in a release ahead of the show. “From Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, generations of cultural greats have passed through its doors—and this fall we welcome in a new era of brand ambassadors and campaign stars.”
As he put it, “If those walls could talk, they would tell some of the city's greatest stories."
And now, those walls will bear witness to some of the greatest fashion looks to come from Tommy Hilfiger.