At a photo shoot for her new resort collection, Tory Burch offered a succinct summation of her aesthetic manifesto, as it stands in 2025. “I start somewhere understandable and classic, then iterate on it. It’s always twisted.” It wasn’t always this way for Burch, but since her husband Pierre-Yves Roussel took over as CEO and she rededicated herself to design, she’s been intent on injecting a little peculiarity into her collections. The formula has worked especially well with her footwear. The pierced pumps and mules are distinctive in a way that makes them recognizable on the street and thus wantable. At the “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” preview, the designer herself was wearing her “broken” heels, whose clever construction disguises a perfectly functional heel behind a bent one.
This season, the idea was to give utilitarian sportswear, much of it with the flavor of Japanese sportswear, a quirky spin. There are great colorblocked chunky wool sweaters with popped collars and snug washed cashmere cardigans with an askew logo at the chest. A sequined polo with bullet bra seaming at the chest dresses up a pair of wide-leg jeans, and metallic lurex v-necks are paired with pencil skirts, a shape that’s feeling fresh to Burch right now. These looks she accessorized with a vintage-looking beaded evening bag, worn belted around the waist. Other pieces that looked more ordinary, or at least straightforward, were made less so with exacting details: like a generously cut trench with epaulettes and a belt that are lined in a contrasting color leather.
On the dressier side of things, Burch worked in draped and knotted jersey in amped up shades of chartreuse and ruby. Other pieces, like dresses in a blue-and-white plaid and a rich turquoise and green jacquard were also made more interesting by draping. That they’ll also be pleasing to wear, with no stuffy corset details, but with an undeniably sexy shape, is an obvious plus. Also utilitarian is much of the jewelry shown in these photos. Burch pointed out that she encouraged her team to work on the weight of earrings and necklaces. They may look substantial but they’re remarkably light.
