Tory Burch is one of the leading fashion brands in the US known for classy, trendy, and high-quality fashion items, including not just handbags and jewelry but also shoes and clothing.
But is it a good brand? Does the fact that Tory Burch’s bags and accessories will set you back a few hundred bucks mean that the brand is good or one worth investing your hard-earned money in?
Is it a luxury brand, and does it compete with other great luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Channel, or Prada, or is it in the same category as other brands like Kate Spade, Michael Kors, or Coach?
Keep reading to find out more about Tory Burch, what the brand is all about, and what the brand has to offer.
Tory Burch brand introduction
To have a better understanding of the Tory Burch brand and what they are all about, let’s first take a look at the basics of the brand.
Founded in 2004, Tory Burch is one of the few American brands that have, in many ways, revolutionalized what is viewed as a luxury in the fashion world, and not just on the national level but globally. But beyond creating and offering the very best of fashion, Tory Burch has also set itself apart as the brand that empowers women, as well as women entrepreneurs. They boast an incredible range of fashion options and collections that have been presented in pretty much all seasons of the New York Fashion Week. The one thing that really stands out from their product offerings has to be the fact that the outfits and the accessories under the Tory Burch brand come on various designs that reflect Tory’s love for travel, color, not to mention her love for unique details. The designs of clothing are versatile and timeless, and along with the accessories offered, Tory’s designs and featured products and collections have been designed in a way that perfectly epitomized the best of classic American styles.
Overall, the Tory Burch brand is known for its preppy-boho style and also the Preppy-boho luxe style that is captured well with the brand’s T medallion logo. The designs and styles of the fashion pieces by Tory Burch are not age-specific and can be worn by women of all ages. Notably, most of the Tory Burch pieces were featured in the popular TV show Gossip Girl.
But what is the story behind the Tory Burch brand?
Well, Tory’s journey in the fashion world started with the launch of her fashion label, initially called Tory by TRB. This label was later renamed, and the Tory Burch brand was born in 2004. She launched the label in the Nolita district of Manhattan in her retail store, and to say that her label was an instant hit could be underrating this brand that successfully sold out of their products on the very first day. But this was just the beginning of her brand’s success, and in April 2005, when the Tory Burch brand received endorsement from Oprah Winfrey on the Oprah Winfrey Show, calling her the ‘next big thing in fashion,’ the brand literally rose to its peak, with their website receiving over 8 million hits the next day.
Since the launch of the brand, Tory Burch has gone on to open at least 300 stores in their name, all across the world, and they have flagship stores in Los Angeles, New York, London, Rome, Paris, Seoul, and Tokyo. The other impressive thing about this brand has got to be the fact their ecommerce site is available in 7 languages. Their largest flagship store is based in Shanghai, and it was opened up in 2014.
Their success has also been enhanced by the fact that the company boasts a wide range of products that are in high demand. In other words, you get not only the best of ready-to-wear clothes but also handbags, shoes, watches, home décor, fragrances, accessories, as well as beauty collections.
The other highlights of the Tory Burch brand include the fact that Tory Burch sold a minority stake in her company to Tresalia Capital, a Mexican Private Equity firm, in 2009. They had other minority investors in 2012. In 2011 Tory Burch made her debut on the runway and is now an annual staple at New York Fashion Week. Then in the Fall of 2013, Tory Burch, in collaboration with Estee Lauder, launched her very first fragrance, as well as the beauty capsule collection. And in 2015 (Summer), her line of accessories hit the market, specifically for the Fitbit Flex activity tracker devices, making Tory Burch the first major designer fashion band to get into the wearable technology scene. She published her first book, Tory Burch in Color, in the fall of 2014 while also launching her line of watches with the Fossil brand in the same year. She extended the Tory Burch home décor line in March 2015 and had her first boutique in Paris opened its doors in 2015 July. Tory Sport was also introduced in 2015, which is a dedicated sportswear and performance activewear line running on its own separate website.
In 2019 August, the Tory Burch brand made an announcement that made public the fact that the band had entered into a long-term business partnership with Shiseido brand for the development, marketing, and distribution of the Tory Burch brand of beauty products from January 2023.
What makes Tory Burch unique?
In addition to being one of the popular luxury lifestyle brands that is known for eclectic, bold-colored, and unique pieces that scream preppy-boho, the brand is also made unique by the fact that their products are attainable at very reasonable prices. The items by this brand are a perfect embodiment of the brand creator’s personal style and bold, adventurous spirit.
Tory Burch’s designs were largely inspired by her parents, but also her deep love for art, travel, and culture, all represented in the style and designs of her pieces – you will always spot the bold colors, graphic prints, as well as the unique details that pretty much make up the signature of the Tory Burch brand.
There is also the fact that the Tory Burch brand launched a foundation, the Tory Burch Foundation, which supports the economic empowerment of families and women.
What is Tory Burch famous for?
Besides the brand’s clothes, shoes, and accessories being featured in the popular TV show Gossip Girl, Tory Burch is known for being the very best of bohemian Preppy outfits and sportswear. There is also the fact that the brand has been a global success, with a presence in many countries, making up a total of 250 boutiques and 3000+ specialty and department stores. All these have led to the great success of the brand driving the estimated worth of sales by this brand at $1 billion.
Beyond her brand, and also what could be the actual reason behind her success and the success of her brand, could be the fact that Tory Burch gained an immense amount of valuable experience from the very best designers and brands in the fashion and lifestyle scenes. We are talking about the fact that Tory Burch previously worked for brands like Vera Wang, Ralph Lauren, as well as Loewe while Narciso Rodriguez worked there. She worked in advertising and PR for these companies and knew exactly what she’d have to do to push her brand to the top.
All these, the success of her brand, the formation of a foundation that is all about empowerment, the fact that she sits on the board of directors for the Council of Fashion Designers of America, among others, and has won a number of top awards, makes her one of the most popular names in the world of fashion and women empowerment.
Is Tory Burch luxury?
So, is Tory Burch considered a luxury brand?
Well, the truth is that in as much a Tory Burch bag would set you back a few hundred bucks, the prices of their products are still lower than the of brands that are regarded as actual luxury brands like Louis Vuitton.
This means that Tory Burch is much more accessible to most people, a factor that knocks off the brand from the luxury brands line, perhaps to the accessible mid-range category where it is more comparable to brands like Kate Spade and Coach.
You could also refer to Tory Burch as a mid-tier brand, premium-range, or an attainable luxury brand. In other words, you will end up spending more on a Tory Burch bag or pair of shoes than you would an item by Zara, but then, Tory Burch gives you better quality items, and you also enjoy the aspect of brand recognition.
Features of Tory Burch
The main things that stand out from the Tory Burch brand are as follows:
- Love of color
Tory, the person, clearly sees the world in color, but more importantly, color in its boldest shapes. But she just doesn’t throw on colors; Tory is drawn to colors in a way that the colors not only complement each other but also beautifully play off each other. All this is made possible by the fact that Tory lives her life in full color, and the full, bold colors are pretty much her most important guiding principle.
- Iconic Double T Medallion Logo
You can always tell the Tory Burch brand items by looking at the large double T medallion that makes up the Tory Burch logo. Interestingly, she created the logo by herself and noted that the logo design is inspired by the bold graphics that David Hicks’ interior works from the 1960s and 1970s are known for, as well as Moroccan Architecture.
- Travel
Tory Burch loves to travel, and her love for travel is seen in her styles and prints. Tory considers both travel and discovery to be an integral part of their collections and brand as a whole. Traveling with her parents Reva and Buddy to Greece, Morocco, Italy, and Beyond, her sense of adventure and curiosity was born in her, and as she learned about different places, people, and cultures, she took a bit of all these places and incorporated them into her designs.
- Designs meet function
In addition to being stylish, the brand’s outfits and accessories, especially the sportswear options, including the shoes, are all super comfortable, durable, and flattering.
Pros and cons of Tory Burch
Pros
- The brand is known for high-quality and durable leather that lasts a long time and is worth your money.
- Wide range of options for you to choose from
- Attainable luxury that is more affordable than what’s offered by higher-end brands
- Sportswear line
- Bold colors and styles for everyone
- Ideally, preppy-boho styles for their pieces
Cons
- Expensive
Brand similar to Tory Burch
Tory Burch’s main competitors include Christopher & Banks, Michael Kors, J. Crew, and Capri.
What brand is better, Tory Burch or Kate spade?
Tory Burch might not beat Kate Spade in terms of popularity and the pricing of their products, but this brand not only boasts one of the most positive reputations but also offers better-quality bags, clothes, and options for accessories.
Tory Burch offers trendier, Boho-inspired, bold-colored, and uniquely styled pieces, unlike Kate Spade that offers more of the classic designs.
Generally, Tory Burch is a better brand than Kate Spade.
Conclusion
In addition to being a great brand that is known for bold colored and designed bags, shoes, accessories, beauty products, even perfumes and watches, Tory Burch’s founder is very involved in empowerment projects for women and families.
She also sits on a number of important boards whose decisions impact the community, and their sportswear line is an exclusive line that boasts a great array of items you need at great prices.
So, it might not be a top-tier luxury brand, but it is a great, mid-tier brand.
More information here or here!
Stephanie is a jewelry lover when she was a teenager. Her major was fashion design when she was in college. She is a jewelry designer at SOQ Jewelry and other design companies. Now she is also a writer for our website. She writes a lot of designs&brands posts with very actionable tips.