Who is Tory Burch?
Tory Burch is a fashion designer who founded her company in 2004. She is well known for her designs of clothing, shoes, and accessories that have been seen on celebrities and high-profile women.
Tory Burch was born in San Francisco, California on October 25th, 1966. Her father was a stockbroker and her mother was an artist. As a child she would spend time with her grandmother who would take her to the art museum and teach her about art history. Tory attended boarding school in Connecticut where she studied art history before attending Rhode Island School of Design for college. After graduating from college she worked as an accessories editor at Mademoiselle magazine before starting to work for Ralph Lauren as an assistant designer.
Tory started designing clothes at the age of 26 when she began.
Tory Burch did not just make preppy clothes look cool and contemporary, and Tory Burch did not just create a billion-dollar fashion empire, for that matter, in almost less than ten years; she created a fire, inspiring women to believe in themselves and to follow through on their dreams. After getting the experience, Tory Burch decided that she wanted to start her own multi-billion dollar fashion empire, and that she wanted it to become a global brand. After her former husband, retail mogul Christopher Burch, gave her $2 million, she began designing clothes in her kitchen. By that time, Burch was climbing the ranks, working in PR and advertising for Spanish fashion house Loewe, but she gave that up when she had a third child, Sawyer.
In New York, Burch, who says she is pretty shy, has balanced her career working at Harpers Bazaar, Vera Wang, and Ralph Lauren, while also diving into the city’s social scene. After working for internationally known fashion designers including Ralph Lauren and Vera Wang, Tory Burch’s left a successful PR career to raise her three young children. Shortly after President Obama named her a PAGE Ambassador earlier this year, Burch as spoke at the commencement ceremony of Babson College on her own experiences starting and growing a business. It was back in 2004, while Tory was married to Chris Burch, that Tory decided to pursue fashion design.
Although Tory Burch’s childhood was that of a self-described tomboy, she became interested in art history and fashion during her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, before going on to work for high-profile designers such as Ralph Lauren and Vera Wang. Tory’s then moved to New York City, where she worked in PR and marketing for brands such as Zoran, Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren, and Narciso Rodriguez. After graduating college, Tory moved to New York, where she worked for Zoran, a Yugoslavian fashion designer, followed by Harpers Bazaar magazine. After years in the fashion industry working for high-end designers, in February 2004, Tory Burch launched Tory Burch’s own fashion label in New York.
Not only is Tory Burch a successful fashion designer, but Tory has built a tremendous following on empowering women entrepreneurs with her foundation. An American fashion designer, self-made businesswoman, and philanthropist, Tory Burch has won multiple fashion awards for her work, and to this day, at $1 billion, is listed by Forbes as the worlds 79th-most influential woman. When we look at Tory today, it is very easy just to look at her as the self-made billionaire, who started her billion-dollar fashion empire from nothing, and is actually thriving at this point. Just like Tory Burch had to ride the crest of setbacks, she is also accepted the lucky breaks that came her way, such as being a featured speaker on Oprah Winfrey’s “The Next Big Thing” that gave her eight million hits on the site, as well as media coverage by her friends at magazine publishing.
I recently caught up with Burch at Forbes first women’s summit, where she opened up about her dizzying rise to the top of the fashion world – and offered a few business tips and leadership lessons that she is learned the hard way in her own path to astounding success. Recently named to Forbess 100 Most Powerful Women in the World, Tory Burch’s helped to redefine what it means to be a woman entrepreneur in the world: The fashion mogul has proven it does not have to involve selling cupcakes or starting a mommy blog. Tory Burch’s has spoken frequently about how hard it is for young women entrepreneurs to get loans and start-up financing, and Elizabeth Street Capitals initiatives are designed to make it easier and more accessible for women-owned businesses to scale.
The power couple plans to work together closely on growing Tory Burch’s fashion brand further — even with Tory Burch’s near-60 years, she has a lot of growth left in the tank. Tory’s first boutique is located on Elizabeth Street in New York City, and it has a unique Tory-esque interior design. Tory Burch as designs are often inspired by Tory’s world travels — think Persian carpets seen in Asia, or paintings found in Europe.
Tory Burch as designs are heavily inspired by his two fabulous parents, and also 1960s and 1970s styles. For Tory’s spring/summer 2017 line, Burch as designs remain in-state, giving an east coast/west coast vibe. Burch as styles are not household names, only because there are a lot of women wearing them.
Flip through the piles of glossy magazines, and you are guaranteed to see Tory Burch; from New York City to Shanghai, stroll any sidewalk, and you are guaranteed to see women wearing ballet flats or printed tunics, clutches, handbags, fanciful, country-club-chic pants, dresses, skirts, and tops bearing the Tory Burch logo. Stefani Greenfield, co-founder of trendy clothes shop The Scoop, and a keen observer of fashion, says whenever Stefani Greenfield goes into a food service area on the ninth floor of the Barneys department store in Manhattan, at least 10% of the women are wearing Kris and Tory Burch. Many in her broad circle of friends–upper-East Side socialites mixed with magazine editors and high-powered fashion executives–strip down to underwear directly next to the racks to try on the surprisingly flattering Burch tunics and the brightly printed pants.
The story of Tory Bürch is inspirational and heart-warming story for many people who are struggling. She joins the ranks of successful entrepreneurs who had once struggled with poverty and now have been able to turn their lives around.
This story was brought to you by clutchya and edited by vogue shopster.
