She has what other designers spend their careers struggling to find: an eagle-sharp vision of what her line is and who her customers are, an unfailingly consistent aesthetic. Tory Burch is about easy-chic, modern-classic sportswear informed by the sixties and seventies. It might not be the reinvention of the wheel, but women from all walks of life go wild for it—in large part, because it¿s so reliably wearable.
Come fall, they¿ll be clamoring again. The show was presented in a raw loft space way over on the West Side, to tunes spun by the celeb-DJ trio the MisShapes. While maintaining her distinctly American sensibility, Burch flavored things up with a touch of Paris. ¿I was looking at French films and photos from the sixties—Catherine Deneuve,¿ she said. Again, it¿s not that the inspiration is unique—which designer hasn't cited the star of Belle de Jour at some point?—it¿s that the execution is so neatly done.
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg et al. were evoked in lots of great outerwear, from stylish trenches and peacoats to a slick black patent coat with fur cuffs and a three-quarter coat of striped, sheared mink. Burch¿s hit sequined minidress made another appearance, this time in light blue and silver. She showed her signature jacket in a delectable stiff brown silk, with crystals down the front, over a pair of insanely chic skinny white pants. Classic Tory…but isn¿t it always classic Tory?
