Tory Burch is hitting the road with Nordstrom via a series of pop-up shops and personal appearances at the retailer’s stores in Miami and Dallas.
“Internally we call it the Tory tour,” said Pierre-Yves Roussel, Tory Burch’s chief executive officer and husband. “Tory has always been doing it, meeting the customer. People love it, and we love it too, because we learn a lot by just chatting with our customer while being there” added Roussel.
Nordstrom officially kicked off the immersive customer event at the Aventura Mall store on March 8 with a pop-up that will run until March 24, offering customers a chance to view and shop Burch’s latest spring collection, which included a selection of ready-to-wear, shoes, accessories and handbags.
“People are very excited to see the evolution of the brand. We have evolved a lot in the last couple of seasons and it’s great to see the customer excited with that,” Roussel said.
Customers who spend $400 or more will have the opportunity to meet and have their photo taken with the designer following a live conversation.
Burch’s pop-up shop will also make a stop in Nordstrom’s NorthPark Center mall in Dallas from April 25 through May 12, with Burch appearing for another conversation series and meet-and-greet on April 30.
Nordstrom will also host intimate luncheons for its top customers with Burch in Miami and Dallas prior to the in-store appearance.
“I consider Tory to be a great and longtime friend. We have had a very successful partnership with the Tory Burch brand for years, and our customers’ enthusiasm for all things Tory are at the center of our plans to host activations and events,” said Pete Nordstrom, president and chief brand officer for Nordstrom.
Her most recent collections have featured sheer skirts, leather bodysuits, hooped hemlines and plunging necklines — uncharacteristically edgy yet elevated styles, just as the brand is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The brand is currently undergoing a renaissance, though fashion insiders have coined it a “Toryssaince.”
“Twenty years sounds so long, but it’s so young. We feel like we’re really just starting and I have to say our first partner was in 2005 and it was Nordstrom. So when I think about just partnership and being there for each other, I remember doing a roadshow with Pete Nordstrom and we went to different cities. And in a way I’ve never been more excited about business, I was excited then too but it’s a different kind of business,” said Burch.
Burch made an in-person appearance this past Wednesday at the Aventura Mall locale for an in-store conversation with Nordstrom’s Fashion Director Rickie De Sole.
Below are key excerpts from the conversation.
Rickie De Sole: What were you like when you were starting your business?
Tory Burch: I was very novice, I knew nothing. I sort of had an idea and it was more about creativity, and I felt like I was personally missing something. And it wasn’t necessarily about the price at all. It was about beautiful pieces that I just couldn’t find in the market that were classic, timeless and beautifully made. Certainly there was the designer price point and then there was the Gap, and in 2004 there wasn’t that much in between. So I did feel that there was a white space in the market and that’s something that I was really interested in. But when I first started the company it was really about the creativity and the branding and the product that drove me and it was really how do we build a successful company to be able to afford to start a foundation. So it was a constant thought process.
R.D.S: Is there something that defines you today and maybe both within your collection, but also have you personally feel getting dressed every day?
T.B.: I think a lot about confidence when I get dressed or when we put pieces out for women to get dressed. When they tell me they wear something and they feel energized and confident, that’s a success. So we had a lot of pieces that were easy in shape, but they were really interesting fabrics, whether it’s bonded jersey pants and a very lightweight, almost cotton nylon polo shirt, it’s weightless but it’s not see-through. And those are things that I think about, like how do you really not be restricted and wear things that keep you energized through the day and feeling very chic but also not encumbered.
R.D.S: You are certainly always at the top of my list when I think about women with taste. Do you have any secrets you can impart on us about how you think about getting dressed or when you’re looking to buy something new? How do you work it into your own wardrobe?
T.B.: One of the things that I do is, when I look at things — and I’m not a huge shopper — I shop when I need things and then at special occasions. I look for things that last and things that you don’t need to associate it with a specific time. I love the idea of having a wardrobe that you build and you build over time, and then you jazz it up with things of the moment, but I think those things that last that you invest in I think are amazing ideas to start your wardrobe.
R.D.S: What’s next for Tory Burch, what is the next 20 years?
T.B.: When I started I really meant it, I feel like we are just starting and all kidding aside, I have a great CEO, my husband and an incredible operating team. And it’s allowed me to really explore my creative process and I would say over the years I haven’t had the ability to do that because I was being pulled in so many different directions. So the last five years we’ve really literally wiped the palette clean and started and said these are the pieces that we love. And this is how we’re going to address them for today. And I want to modernize everything that we’re doing and really keep at it. I don’t know that we’re going to change directions at all. I want to always evolve and always reinvent, but I never want to lose sight of who we are and that’s what I’m very proud of. We’ve built some incredible pillars but we’re going to really build on those.
