Fashion designer Tory Burch has teamed up with fellow fashion designer-turned-restaurateur Humberto León on a new pop-up store in Los Angeles, opening this week at 8483 Melrose Avenue at the corner of La Cienega Boulevard. The Tory Burch x Humberto Leon concept store, called The Laboratory, will serve as a temporary outpost for Burch through the end of the year, while her Tory Burch flagship store on Rodeo Drive is undergoing renovations.
Los Angeles-based Leon, co-founder of Opening Ceremony and former co-creative director of Kenzo, curated the pop-up’s range of Tory Burch apparel and accessories; He designed the store’s interior (including chiclet-style pink seating and strawberry-shaped vases commissioned by Mexican designer and architect Aranza García) and partnered with Burch to design special-edition concert-style t-shirts, sweatshirts, and tote bags. Commercial riffs on German photographer Walter Schels’s blown-up photographs of cats and bunnies also figured prominently in interior décor and on T-shirts, cargo pants and a skirt from Burch’s resort 2024 collection.
“I wanted to make some unisex pieces that were fun and easy,” says León (Los Angeles restaurant founder). Chifa and Rice and Fun), talking about Tory Burch’s collaborative merchandising. As for the store’s approach to styling Burch’s clothes in new ways, she says, “I like the idea of treating all clothes equally, whether it’s a party dress or a T-shirt. I think the idea of just choosing pieces that make sense results in an effortless outfit.”
Tory Burch
Dave Bennett/Getty Images
The store also showcases the first installment of pieces from the Tory Burch Spring 2024 collection, including
Burch’s Hoop dress, which turned out to be a Hollywood favorite, worn by Emily Ratajkowski on the runway, Hailey Bieber during Paris Fashion Week, and Selena Gomez for an editorial shoot. Nicole Kidman wore a black sequined crochet version of the Hoop dress in New York in November.
The brand has long had a loyal following in Hollywood. In September, Uma Thurman, Naomi Watts, Hari Neff, Lori Harvey, Emma Roberts, Suki Waterhouse, Chloe Fineman and Leon Bridges attended the brand’s Spring 2024 runway presentation in the atrium of the American Museum of Nature’s Richard Gilder Center . History in New York City.
Burch, nominated for the first time Womenswear Designer of the Year at the 2023 CFDA Fashion Awards, has given her 20-year-old brand a new lease of life and a slightly more minimalist look in recent years. Her husband, Pierre-Yves Roussel, former CEO of LVMH Fashion Group, took over as CEO of the Tory Burch brand in 2019, allowing Burch to return to focusing on design as creative director and CEO. . In her previous work, Roussel played a leading role in hiring Leon and Carol Lim as co-creative directors of Kenzo in 2011.
Burch spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the emerging project, what’s on her artistic radar, the actress she’d love to dress, and more.
Tell us how this emerging project came about.
It was kind of a crazy organic thing. First of all, our Los Angeles store just closed for renovation and it will take a year. We are literally gutting the entire store. Then we found this amazing pop-up that was available for a year on Melrose. Humberto and I have known each other for a long time, since he inaugurated the Opening Ceremony. And of course, my husband worked with him when he cast him for Kenzo. I thought what Humberto was doing was very creative and unique and he certainly is a master at merchandising. We had always wanted to do something together and this seemed like a perfect fit with him living in Los Angeles. We put our collections in a showroom, Humberto came to New York and it was really fascinating and refreshing to see his vision of how to put things together. – How he took our runway collection and mixed it with sports and tennis and then the accessories he chose. It was pretty easy, I must say. We are very synchronized. As soon as I told him that he wanted something strange and unusual, he said, “Yeah, that sounds cool!” He definitely wanted this to present who we are today. And the brand is definitely a more personal extension of me today.
Inside the Tory Burch x Humberto Leon pop-up store.
Kanya Iwana, courtesy of Tory Burch
Can you talk about the brand’s DNA and your shift towards a more minimalist aesthetic?
After my husband came on board, five years ago this week, to run the company and be the CEO, it really allowed me to express what I’m passionate about and that’s the creative part of the company. Now I dedicate 100 percent of my time to design. On many levels, I feel like I’m just getting started. I have time to reflect and really think about the essence of how I see women today, as eclectic and individual. I love that they adopt our collections and make them their own. I want to solve problems and I want to create beautifully made pieces that have an incredible fit. I am incredibly technical. I spend a lot of time on proportions and fabrics.
The Hoop dress has become a sort of “It” dress; Were you inspired by a crinoline?
I was looking at what held women back and I thought a lot about the insides of past clothing and the restrictions. It inspires me a lot to see women dressing today, how they embrace their shapes and their bodies and feel confident doing so. So I was interested in making a dress that was sculptural but also liberating at the same time. If you feel that dress, it’s light as a feather. The fabric is incredibly weightless.
Can you talk about how you connected with Walter Schels‘ work?
He is an incredible genius. First of all, I am a complete animal lover. So, from the way he takes portraits of animals and humanizes them, you see that there is nothing hidden in his eyes. You’re seeing the rawest version of who they are. He also does the same thing with people (he did an amazing portrait of Andy Warhol), but his animal portraits have always inspired me. They are what they are and he captures them in all kinds of movements and emotions and you stop in your tracks when you look at his work. Animals are heroes. That was really the beginning of what attracted me to his work and used him for our resort collection.
Being a student of art history and having collaborated with other artists, who do you personally collect and who inspires you in the art world right now?
I wouldn’t call myself an art collector. I am passionate about art and collect eclectic things that I love when I see them. It could be a beautiful ceramic or a modern artist or a folk artist or something from a flea market. I love Helen Frankenthaler’s colors. And Betty Woodman has something called “wallpaper,” where these little pieces of sculpture come together on a wall and look like a piece of modern art; then you get closer and it’s all individual pieces. She is amazing! I love Lucie Rie the potter and Clementine Hunter. Growing up in Pennsylvania, I was exposed to folk art and there are many folk artists that I find interesting.
Is there anyone in Hollywood you would especially like to dress?
Taking Phoebe Bridgers to the Met Ball and designing that dress for her [in 2023] it was fun. I love Naomi Watts, Yara Shahidi and Kerry Washington, thinking about the people we sometimes dress. But I guess if I had to think of someone we haven’t dressed yet, it would be Cate Blanchett. I love her style.
Is your brand expected to be seen more on the red carpet?
It’s not our core business, but I love the challenge of looking at the person and really thinking about them individually, so I definitely see doing a little more of that.
Are there other key areas where you are growing your brand?
What I am implementing is the concept of innovation and evolution. What we did with our Ella Bio Tote [made with a sustainable leather alternative in partnership with biotechnology company Modern Meadow] is that we are really experimenting with biomaterials. We all know we need to do better as an industry. Also, we are launching fragrances right now with Shiseido that were designed for the Middle East and that are really different, unique and powerful, but not overpowering. So I’m excited about that.