Thursday, May 25, 2017

Tory Burch On Her Retail Evolution

As e-commerce continues to saturate the fashion industry, many brands are shying away from the archaic structures of bricks and mortar. Not so with Tory Burch, who celebrated the opening of her second London flagship last night - one of 200 others across the globe. Located in the heart of the city's bustling Regent Street, the launch marked a defiance against contemporary perceptions that the physical retail experience is dying a slow, technologically inept, death. Far from paying homage to nostalgia, Burch continues to champion the physical space as a representation of her brand.

"I obviously believe in e-commerce but we're spending a lot of time as a company understanding what 360 means, omni-channel means and how we can really engage the customer. Online traffic is way down, so how do you make the store experience interesting and enjoyable?" For Burch, it's all about creating an intimate space that is inviting to shoppers. "We want it to feel as if you're walking into someone's living room where you can hang out and have a drink".

But it’s not just the retail side of her eponymous brand that keeps the designer busy. In 2009 the designer launched the Tory Burch Foundation, a philanthropic initiative which supports the ambitions of women in the workplace. "The whole point of the brand was to start a foundation; it was always part of the business plan,” she told the students. We were very careful in talking about it at the beginning because we never wanted it to be perceived as marketing". The impact of Burch's message can be seen in a recent video released by the foundation to promote their #EmbraceAmbition campaign which features everyone from Sheryl Sandberg and Melinda Gates to Chris Pine and Gwyneth Paltrow, all talking about the importance of female ambition wearing Tory Burch T-shirts emblazoned with various empowering slogans. "Women are a great investment, she said, "it's harder " she says, "it's harder for women to get along, there's a lot of sexism out in the world. If we can be a support system to get women to be the best advocates for themselves, then that's great."

Does she consider herself a feminist? "We have to get the negative connotations away from that word. Women are feminists, men are feminists, feminist to me means equality for women. The fact that we're having this conversation at this time in history where women are paid 70 cents of the dollar on men for the same job is insane to me. I think that we all have to stand up to that."

Speaking of inspiring women, Michelle Obama to The Duchess of Cambridge are just some of the famous faces to have sported Tory's vibrant designs, not to mention the string of high profile actresses including Blake Lively and Jessica Alba. In an age of influencers and social media stars, where celebrities are often sponsored to wear designer's clothing in public and post pictures to their social profiles (which should be - but seldom are - captioned with #spon or #ad), how does she navigate this murky pond? "It has to be organic and authentic. I admire the people we dress, they are people of substance. We're not actively going out and paying people to wear our clothes".


That's not to say that the brand hasn't encountered a fair share of criticism. A recent campaign video promoting the brand's summer 2017 collection featuring Poppy Delevingne was taken down following accusations of cultural appropriation. The video, which was directed by W style director Giovanna Battaglia, featured Poppy dancing and miming along to Zay Hilfigerrr and Zayion McCall's hit song "Juju on That Beat" alongside fellow models. The issue for fans derived from the fact - that despite the song being by two black artists - the clip featured only white models. "I think it's sad because the conversation has changed dramatically and everyone's sensitive, obviously including our company as well," Burch explained. "We put on a video to rap music and we worked with the producer and the rapper who wrote the music and it was also perceived as [cultural appropriation]. You just have to be thoughtful and I think one thing that we've learned from the election and with everything going on in the world is that we have to listen to what people are feeling and we have to be overly sensitive until we all come together a little more and that's something we're trying to do".

Fascinatingly, despite the brand's meteoric rise to success, they have never advertised in print. "We never had the budget so we had to be resourceful. We were early adapters of social everything; that's really what has helped us build our company. We never wanted to be the biggest business. We don't want to be everywhere and as long as I'm there I'd prefer not to be a public company" she said.

As a mother of three teenage boys, Burch's career trajectory seems only more impressive: "The thing I'm best at is being a mum. I put my boys before everything." she told the students. In fact, prioritising family is something she has integrated into her business model: "Family is the culture of our company, I want people to be able to go to a lacrosse game or a doctor's appointment if they need to. As long as the work gets done, it's fine. Otherwise women won't be able to work. a lot of environments don't promote being a mum and working so we're trying to change that and be role models to other companies".

The artist Young Thug recently performed wearing a tracksuit from Burch's sports wear line, does she see the business migrating to menswear? "It shows the depth of the brand that we have men wearing it despite it being a women's brand. It's definitely made me think that a unisex capsule would be interesting,” she said. What about investing in future technologies? "We're a patient company and virtual reality is something I'm really interested in, particularly in sport but I don't think it's quite there yet but when it is, can you imagine trying on a ski jacket and then putting on a headset and being on the Swiss alps and really feeling it and smelling it?". Wouldn't that be something?

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