“My home town!” said Tory Burch, as she talked about Katharine Hepburn in the movie Philadelphia Story – while greeting backstage her faithful client and famous Chinese actress, Li Bingbing.
That film from 1940 was the designer’s inspiration because of what she described as “tomboy chic, outdoor glamour and a confident femininity.”
All that seemed a perfect fit for Tory, who knows how to make a big bow flop over a silk shirt and to tie a mini version to feminize a shoe.
This gentle masculine/feminine game is the designer’s calling card. But this season she added a dollop of sweetness – and not just in the Valentine’s Day books of love poems or the heart-patterned cups of hot chocolate printed with the words “love conquers all.”
There were soft colors like a blush pink coat, identified by a new logo with “TB” in gold lettering. While colorful floral patterns came in Tory’s favorite lupin flower blue.
But this look faced off with the sportier pieces, including a country cardigan worn like a comfort blanket and masculine checked pants. For evening, there was yet another code: gilded or mother-of-pearl patterns.
It is still hard to know just what the Tory Birch brand stands for. It is very much a personal manifestation of its founder. But the way that she radiates her vision from clothing to interior design, from china to home-wear, create a style universe to which other women can relate.