Tory Burch, the brand, is in the midst of a comeback—a “Toryssance!”—if you believe the fashion press. That’s news to Tory Burch, the person: “I didn’t know I’d gone anywhere, I can tell you that.” Indeed, the 58-year-old fashion designer and her 21-year-old eponymous brand have been stalwarts in an industry known for its short attention span. The company she founded in 2004 is still independently owned and reportedly pulled in close to $2 billion in revenue in 2023. Her staying power has everything to do with her being a savvy brand builder and learning from her mistakes.
Case in point: A public legal battle with ex-husband and venture capitalist Chris Burch, who helped her launch her fashion line. In 2011, he launched a similar line called C. Wonder and she accused him of “unfair competition.” (They settled in 2012.) Since then, she’s learned how to bridge personal and professional partnerships, which is how she views her decision, in 2019, to hand over the CEO reins to her current husband, Pierre-Yves Roussel, the former chairman and CEO of LVMH’s fashion group. “It’s important to have your own areas of focus and come together on strategy,” she says. Thanks to this epiphany, Burch is devoting more time than ever to creative—hence the Toryssance—and business has never been better. Sitting down with Inc., Burch shared more of her business and life lessons.
1 Be the designer and editor of your life
In many ways, I’m a new designer. I didn’t even know how to design when I started. I was really focused on operations. It’s been a crash course in business and design over the past 20 years. I was traveling all over, opening stores, running the business, and working on the foundation. [The Tory Burch Foundation, started in 2009, facilitates grants and loans to women-owned businesses.] Pierre-Yves came on board, and then a year later, Covid happened. It really allowed me to take time to rethink the entire creative process. I realized that we built this incredible company, and it was something that I was super passionate about, but it wasn’t a personal reflection of how I saw women.
Today, I spend 100 percent of my time on the creative process. I feel like I’m a real designer. The product is better than it’s ever been. And for us to be able to offer these pieces at a price point that’s not an über-high luxury price is very exciting for me.
2 You can work with your life partner—sometimes
I know that it can be very challenging, and I learned that the hard way. When I launched the company with my ex-husband, it was not a good fit to work together. Working with Pierre-Yves is a very different story. Handing over the operation to him was probably one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. We prefer not to talk about business when we get home. Does it always happen? No. But we have pretty intense days, so by the time we get home, I think we’re both ready to call it.
3 Let yourself go on tangents
In 2015, I started a line called Tory Sport with different branding, a different logo, and separate supply chains. It allowed me to get the company to where it is today, because it let me think differently and take myself out of the main business and work with a much smaller t...
Case in point: A public legal battle with ex-husband and venture capitalist Chris Burch, who helped her launch her fashion line. In 2011, he launched a similar line called C. Wonder and she accused him of “unfair competition.” (They settled in 2012.) Since then, she’s learned how to bridge personal and professional partnerships, which is how she views her decision, in 2019, to hand over the CEO reins to her current husband, Pierre-Yves Roussel, the former chairman and CEO of LVMH’s fashion group. “It’s important to have your own areas of focus and come together on strategy,” she says. Thanks to this epiphany, Burch is devoting more time than ever to creative—hence the Toryssance—and business has never been better. Sitting down with Inc., Burch shared more of her business and life lessons.
1 Be the designer and editor of your life
In many ways, I’m a new designer. I didn’t even know how to design when I started. I was really focused on operations. It’s been a crash course in business and design over the past 20 years. I was traveling all over, opening stores, running the business, and working on the foundation. [The Tory Burch Foundation, started in 2009, facilitates grants and loans to women-owned businesses.] Pierre-Yves came on board, and then a year later, Covid happened. It really allowed me to take time to rethink the entire creative process. I realized that we built this incredible company, and it was something that I was super passionate about, but it wasn’t a personal reflection of how I saw women.
Today, I spend 100 percent of my time on the creative process. I feel like I’m a real designer. The product is better than it’s ever been. And for us to be able to offer these pieces at a price point that’s not an über-high luxury price is very exciting for me.
2 You can work with your life partner—sometimes
I know that it can be very challenging, and I learned that the hard way. When I launched the company with my ex-husband, it was not a good fit to work together. Working with Pierre-Yves is a very different story. Handing over the operation to him was probably one of the easiest things I’ve ever done. We prefer not to talk about business when we get home. Does it always happen? No. But we have pretty intense days, so by the time we get home, I think we’re both ready to call it.
3 Let yourself go on tangents
In 2015, I started a line called Tory Sport with different branding, a different logo, and separate supply chains. It allowed me to get the company to where it is today, because it let me think differently and take myself out of the main business and work with a much smaller t...
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Inc. (Digital) - 1 Issue, Spring 2025