Our obsession with all things Tory Burch

Everyone including ourselves seem to have a Tory Burch obsession. Extremely moderately priced, her caftans, clutches and shift dresses appeal to both high-end shoppers and those on a budget. That's why they're endlessly copied, the Palm Beachy printed clutches at Old Navy, the two-tone cardigans with jeweled buttons at J. Crew, the beaded tunics at Banana Republic, the indispensable flat shoe with a gold insignia on the toe at Target.

Tpry Burch Sequined Silk Tunic - $998.00

Look everywhere, notice the often copied gold insignia on just about every slipper etc in department stores have been influenced by her designs.
What took Ralph Lauren decades -- developing brand signatures such as the Polo pony, Polo shirt, concho belt and blanket coat -- Burch has done in a handful of years. The tunic top, the sequin knit dress, the dickey sweater and the $195 Reva ballet flat named after her mom and adorned with the double-T logo have become classic designs, some of which are cleverly re-created as charms on a bracelet. (More than 300,000 pairs of Reva flats have been sold.)

She launched her line in February 2004 at her own retail store in New York, before wholesaling it. She began with 15 categories, which is a lot for any business starting out. Many pieces, such as the caftans and espadrilles, were inspired by things that her parents wore when they vacationed in the 1960s in Morocco.
Of course, things took off in 2005 after she appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show. Her site Toryburch.com got over 8 million hits the next day.
With handbag sales up 50% and accessories sales up 200% last year, she'll be unveiling more small leather goods and jewelry.



Tory Burch Provence Woven Clutch - $275.00

But she's also standing at a precipice so visible and so imitated that she has to be careful not to fizzle out. (Kate Spade comes to mind.) (latimes)
Tory Burch is easily the DVF of this generation.