Description
Tory Burch LLC is an American fashion label based in New York City, New York, United States. It was founded by American designer Tory Burch in 2004. Pierre-Yves Roussel is the current CEO of the company.
Tory Burch began her fashion label – "Tory by TRB", later known as "Tory Burch" – in February 2004, launching it with a retail store in Manhattan's Nolita district. Most of the inventory sold out on the first day. When Oprah Winfrey endorsed her line on The Oprah Winfrey Show in April 2005, calling Burch "the next big thing in fashion", Burch's website received eight million hits the following day.
Since launch, the company has grown to include 250 Tory Burch stores worldwide, including flagships in New York, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, and Seoul, and ecommerce sites in seven languages. The company’s Shanghai flagship, which launched in 2014, is its largest. The fashion line, which encompasses ready-to-wear, shoes, handbags, accessories, watches, home decor, and a fragrance and beauty collection, is also carried at over 3,000 department and specialty stores worldwide, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's, as well as Harrods, Harvey Nichols,Galeries Lafayette, Lane Crawford, and Isetan.
In 2009, Burch sold a minority stake in her company to a Mexican private equity firm, Tresalia Capital. Additional minority investors were added in December 2012 in conjunction with the settlement of a legal dispute between Burch and her ex-husband. This settlement is said to have removed a substantial obstacle to a forthcoming IPO, which has been the subject of considerable discussion in the financial and fashion industries. As of 2015, Burch had stated that there were no plans for the company to go public. In 2018, the company bought back Tresalia Capital's minority stake in the business.
In September 2011, Burch did her first runway fashion show, and has continued to show each season at New York Fashion Week.
In Fall 2013, Burch launched her first fragrance and a beauty capsule collection with Estée Lauder.
In Summer 2014, she introduced a line of accessories for the Fitbit Flex activity-tracking device, making hers the first major fashion brand to move into wearable technology. Fall 2014 marked the publication of her first and bestselling book, Tory Burch in Color, and the launch of watches with Fossil.
In March 2015, Burch extended her home line with a collection of lettuce ware created in collaboration with Palm Beach artist and potter Dodie Thayer. In July 2015, Burch launched her first boutique in Paris.
In August 2019, the brand announced that it had entered a long-term partnership with Shiseido to develop, market, and distribute Tory Burch beauty brands, beginning in January 2020.
In November 2020, Tory Burch LLC has named Thibault Villet president of the Asia-Pacific region, effectively on December 28, 2020. In its new position, Villet will manage all facets of the brand’s activities.
