Interview: Tory Burch on the past, present and future of her brand
We sat down with the American label’s founder and chief creative officer for an insightful chat on all things Tory Burch.
From staging a show at Pier 76 against Hudson River to unveiling a dreamy T Monogram pop-up on Orchard Road, Tory Burch has had an eventful season when it comes to its Spring/Summer 2023 collection. We were recently flown down to Singapore to celebrate the latter, and we got the chance to speak to the woman of the hour — executive chairman and chief creative officer Tory Burch — who was also in attendance.
Based on the last few collections, it’s apparent that the Tory Burch aesthetic is going down a cleaner and more subdued route. What prompted the change?
In the last four years, a lot has changed at our company. I used to be CEO and do the creative [at the same time], so before that, I’d spend maybe 30% of my time on the creative process. But since Pierre-Yves [Roussel] came on board [in 2019], he has allowed me to have time to focus fully on the creatives.
It’s a different shift and almost a reinvention to me personally. In a way, I was always inspired by my family and people around me, but when the pandemic happened, I had to go within and strip back everything that I knew and thought about what a more personal version of me would be and why I started the company, to begin with.
Even when I design, it’s not just for me. It’s also what I see in helping women of all ages to feel the most confident version of themselves. It’s a completely new shift, but it’s been gradually happening over the last four to five years. We also invested in our company internally — do you believe that I did everything without an atelier for 14 years? We opened one in our New York office and it’s truly a whole new world. I also have a sample room for handbags now.
You’ve also experimented with silhouettes this season. Can you tell us more about that?
Well, I’m interested in evolution and reinvention, and I think that’s never going to change. In a way, some things have always been constant — I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of masculine feminine. I was a massive tomboy — I never wore a dress until I was 17, and it was a constant fight with my mother. I grew up with three brothers and I felt like I was one of them, but I’ve always been interested in the idea of femininity and masculinity, and beauty that’s not so conventional. I want to continue to explore the shape and woman’s body.
As a designer for women, I spent a lot of time researching and developing fabrics that have different ways of stretching. Working on the Sport collection — which started six or seven years ago — has developed me in a different way as a designer as well. I’ll always explore shapes and silhouettes.
Who are some of the designers you look up to?
There are so many, but Claire McCardell is a perfect example. She's someone that has revolutionised global fashion and everything that we kind of take for granted. People barely know her name outside of our industry — I happened to be in an art history class at the University of Pennsylvania and she was one of the themes in the class. My mother wore some of her clothing, but aside from that, I didn’t really know much about her. Then, when the pandemic happened, I started to delve deeper into her and we ended up partnering with her family’s foundation to do a fellowship to learn more about her because she’s such a pivotal part of sportswear. She’s a renegade and a feminist, and I think that’s brilliant.
You’ve always mentioned finding design inspiration from Asia. What is it about Asia that energises you?
I don’t know, maybe it’s a past life thing [laughs]. I’ve always loved Asia and I used to travel to Asia every year. I went on an Asia tour when I was in college, and I visited Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, China and more, this is probably when it kick-started my love for Asia. I love the simplicity, the attention to detail, the culture, and the people. In our SS23 collection, we worked with a collective in India on the mirrored details for the sari-inspired dresses, and it was amazing.
If you could only pick one item from your brand, what would it be?
That’s a hard question — can I do one in each category? [laughs] Okay, there’s a new shoe that we’re doing — it’s called the ballet loafer. Gigi Hadid has been spotted wearing them everywhere. I love the flexibility and the subtle branding; we spent a lot of time engineering it. For ready-to-wear, it’ll probably be the moulded tunics. They represent the idea of making something structured but also perfectly balances form and silhouette. I love looking at a woman’s body and accentuating some of the curves, so that’s something that will continue.
Handbag-wise, I do love the monogram. I started the company with this logo, which wasn’t meant to be one — it was initially just a design element. As it was taken from a quilt in Pennsylvania, there’s a certain serenity to this time in my life, and I treat it as more of a texture rather than logos all over. It’s a monogram but it’s something that has more meaning to me as well.
You’ve held your shows at some of the most emblematic spaces in New York including Mercer Street, the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank building, the Whitney Museum of American Art and Pier 76 with the Hudson River in the background — which is your most memorable so far?
I would probably say Mercer Street where our store is. That was like a rebirth and personally, for me, it was kind of a reinvention — especially when the city needed a comeback as it was devastated by COVID. The energy was beyond, and it was so amazing, I wish you guys could have been there. It’s hard to find incredible spaces that can fit 600 to 700 people — it’s a constant, but I like the one we did in an old bank too, as it has a really interesting architecture.
The Tory Burch Foundation is now in its 14th year. Aside from empowering women by providing access to capital, education and digital resources, is there anything else that you’d like to explore?
In our partnership with Bank of America, we’ve given out over $100 million of low-interest loans to over 5000 women. But do you know what’s interesting that I never mentioned? I called our CFO a few months ago, and I said I’ve never asked what our company has given — I never knew the number. I often support personally, through our company, and match the employees’ donations, and when he said it was close to $65 million, I was so proud of that.
I think creating communities is so critical, where women have access to information and each other, as well as to men. A big part of our foundation talks about having men as part of the conversation when it comes to women’s issues because we could be talking among ourselves but not creating change. They are also problems that men should care deeply about because it affects the world.
I recently joined the board of the Smithsonian Women’s Museum, and we’re going to be creating a women’s museum in Washington. One of my passions is to highlight women at the forefront of every change, who have been lost throughout history. If they're not there, they're driving it, and this hasn't always been documented, so these need to be highlighted.
What’s next for Tory Burch?
It sounds weird, but I feel like we’re just starting even after 18 years. I have never felt more energised with the team that I have; I appreciate them so much. To be able to have close to 6000 employees feels like a family. The work that we’re doing and the integration of more of the foundation into the company where you know something that you’re buying is going towards something bigger — that's not something that we've done.
We’re also expanding in Asia. We’re opening 15 stores this year, and we’ll have close to 50 more in the next three years throughout the region. This is something I’m very excited about. Aside from that, we launched a fragrance with Shiseido, and we have a new one coming out in the Middle East, which I love. I think both men and women could wear them.
