Biography
Tory Burch is an American fashion designer, and a fabulous business woman. She was born on June 17, 1966 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Burch was raised with her four brothers in a Valley Forge farmhouse. Her mother is a former actress and her father, Buddy Robinson, was a wealthy investor. Burch attended the Agnes Irwin School in Rosemont, PA, and the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a member of the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta. She majored in art history, and graduated in 1988. After graduation, she moved to New York City, where she began a career working with fashion designers, including Zoran, a Yugoslavian designer. She worked at Harper's Bazaar magazine, was a copywriter for Polo Ralph Lauren and also worked for Vera Wang.
From 1997 through 2006, she was married to Christopher Burch, an investor in Internet Capital Group. After divorcing Burch, she continued to live with her children in their New York City apartment. Burch has three sons and three stepdaughters: Children Henry, Nicholas, and Sawyer and step children Alexandra, Elizabeth, and Louisa.
She began a fashion label in February 2004. This label was an immediate success and was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey on The Oprah Winfrey Show the following year. Burch has won several fashion awards for her designs. Her fashion label known as "Tory Burch" began as a business operation in her Upper East Side apartment and quickly blossomed into twenty six free-standing boutiques, today. In February 2004, Tory Burch opened a flagship store in the NoLIta neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The store was almost completely sold out on the first day. “Burch has turned what easily could have been dismissed as a socialite vanity project into a viable fashion label. The collection, based on Burch’s own easy-chic style—bold prints, caftans, sequined cardigans, and a few more fashion-y evening items—also includes children’s swimwear, jewelry, handbags, and shoes.” (New York Magazine)
“Signature” Designs
(Elle)
(WWD)
(WWD)
(WWD)
(Style Sight)
(Style Sight)
(Style Sight)
Earlier Influences
Burch seems to have been deeply imprinted in childhood by her own mother’s closet that she has devoted her life to building shrines to it. (Wilson) She is greatly influenced by the unique personal style of her parents Buddy and Reva. She also is inspired by her love of art, music, culture and travel, which is all reflected in the collection. Graphic prints, bold colors and unique detailing are all signatures of the brand. Celebrity fans include Blake Lively, Cameron Diaz, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lopez, Uma Thurman and Hilary Swank.
In an interview with Los Angeles Times, Burch says, "Listen, I'm the first to say I'm inspired by Balenciaga and Lanvin, but I make it my own." (Moore) Her designs are similar to Diane Von Furstenberg’s designs. (Strugatz) In every interview, Burch says that her parents’ eclectic and worldly style influenced her own design style. “I always watch my mother, Reva, get dressed at night, and just look incredibly stylish. And my father had his own innate sense of style. He used to design every piece of his clothing and have incredible details, like lining his dinner jackets with Hermes scarves and piping them and all of his shirts with initials. He was one of my biggest, biggest inspirations,” Burch said in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily. (Karimzadeh) The 1960s and 1970s fashion also served as Burch’s fashion muse, as well as Audrey Hepburn’s film Two for the Road.
Critical Analysis
Tory’s childhood on a farm outside of Philadelphia, as well as her mother and father’s unique sense of personal style, influence the aesthetic of her collection. Her sensibility is also inspired by art, photography, films travel, and the work of interior designer David Hicks. Graphic prints, bold colors and ethnic detailing are all signatures of the brand. Celebrity fans that wear Burch’s designs include Blake Lively, Cameron Diaz, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lopez, Uma Thurman and Hilary Swank.
In just four years, she has become the most influential fashion designer in America. (Moore) Unlike Lanvin and Balenciaga, who may score a lot of red carpet hits but are sustained mostly by accessory and fragrance sales, Burch designs clothes that real people really wear. Burch is the most copied designer in America,” according to The Los Angeles Times. (Moore) Burch has influenced designer, Stella McCartney, with her tribal and global designs.
What took Ralph Lauren decades -- developing brand signatures such as the Polo pony and the Polo shirt, Burch has done in a couple of years. The tunic top, the sequin knit dress, the dickey sweater and the $195 Reva ballet flat named after her mom and adorned with the double-T logo have become classic designs. More than 300,000 pairs of Reva flats have been sold. (Vogue)
Analysis of Future Trends
(Tory Burch)
Tory Burch’s Classic Reva Ballet Flats will always be trendy and will definitely continue on into the future. In my opinion, these Tory Burch flats are equivalent to the Little Black Dress. They are both classic, stylish, and fashion. The famous double “T” is forever hers.
(Tory Burch)
Burch’s has created a lasting tunic silhouette that will stay in the fashion industry for many years ahead. Her brand of stylish cheaper chic came along at just the right time. "Having been in the fashion industry and seeing the markup, I didn't want to spend a ton of money on clothes," Tory Burch says. (Moore) Burch has an instinct for personal style and mixing and matching genres, eras and prints that makes her so successful and could propel her into the future. “Right now, she's got the goods but she needs the myth, something like Ralph Lauren's Americana story, or Diane Von Furstenberg's iconic working girl-in-a-wrap dress.” (Moore)
(Elle)
I truly love and adore Tory Burch’s designs and I am in love with her shoes. They are a bit on the pricey side for me at this point, but I will save up my paychecks to purchase her beautiful classy flats. Her signature “orange” color has inspired my closet and when I am out shopping, my eye catches all of the deep, luscious, orange colors out there.
Works Cited
Elle. November 14 2011 <http://www.elle.com/Runway/Ready-to-Wear/Spring-2011-RTW/TORY-BURCH/TORY-BURCH#mode=base;slide=1;>.
Elle. 15 November 2011 <http://www.elle.com/Runway/Ready-to-Wear/Spring-2011-RTW/TORY-BURCH/TORY-BURCH#mode=base;slide=12;>.
Karimzadeh, Marc. “Rolling the Dice.” Women’s Wear Daily 14 Nov. 2007: 20S.
Moore, Booth. Style Notebook. 1 June 2008. November 14 2011 <http://www.latimes.com/features/lifestyle/la-ig-notebook1-2008jun01,0,2705611.story>.
New York Magazine. November 14 2011 <http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/designers/bios/toryburch/>.
Strugatz, Rachel. Tory Burch: Social Media Pivotal in Brand's Growth. 14 November 2011. 14 November 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/wwd-summits/apparel/tory-burch-social-media-pivotal-in-brands-growth-5368724>.
Style Sight. 15 November 2011 <http://www.stylesight.com/myfolders/zoom_image.php?item_id=image.7709208&set={%22node_id%22%3A%20%22folder-4926-730054%22}&position=0>.
Style Sight. November 15 2011 <http://www.stylesight.com/myfolders/zoom_image.php?item_id=image.8787125&set={%22node_id%22%3A%20%22folder-4926-730054%22}&position=1>.
Style Sight. 15 November 2011 <http://www.stylesight.com/myfolders/zoom_image.php?item_id=image.8764152&set={%22node_id%22%3A%20%22folder-4926-730054%22}&position=2>.
Tory Burch. 15 November 2011 <http://www.toryburch.com/TERRERO-CAFTAN/51112643,default,pd.html?dwvar_51112643_size=XS%2fS&dwvar_51112643_color=623&start=25&cgid=clothing-tunics>.
Tory Burch. 15 November 2011 <http://www.toryburch.com/reva-ballet-flat/50008606,default,pd.html?dwvar_50008606_size=5.0&dwvar_50008606_color=051&start=65&cgid=shoes-flats>.
Vogue. November 15 2011 <http://www.vogue.com/voguepedia/Tory_Burch>.
Wilson, Cintra. Be Old Money or Just Look Like It. 12 June 2008. 14 November 2011 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/fashion/12CRITIC.html>.
WWD. 14 November 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/3650025#/slideshow/image/3650025/0>.
WWD. November 15 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/5061311#/slideshow/image/5061311/0>.
WWD. November 15 2011 <http://www.wwd.com.subscriptions.fidm.com/search/results/slideshow/3400802#/slideshow/image/3400802/0>.
