The strong turnout included a mix of CFDA members, CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalists and designer friends. Among them were Johan Lindeberg, Sharon Khazzam, Hillary Taymour, Andrew Kwon, Jonathan Cohen, Jeffrey Banks, Ji Oh, Batsheva Hay, Gigi Burris, Cynthia Rowley, Kim Shui, Tanya Taylor, Henry Zankov, Jacques Agbobly, Melissa Joy Manning, Mimi So, Kay Unger, Lizzy Fortunato, Junny Hibbert, Yigal Azrouel, Ruthie Davis, Steve Fabrikant, John Bartlett, Fletcher Kassell, Tanner Richie, and Wing Yau.
Here, highlights from the conversation.
On setting aside time for design and for creativity
Christopher John Rogers I’m still trying to figure that out. We are a small but mighty team of eight people including myself, so it’s challenging.
It’s a constant reminder to myself and from the people on my team whom I trust to remember why we started doing this in the first place. It was never for the adjacency to fame or, necessarily, to become millionaires. We’re really in it because we love fashion, we love clothes, we love the process, and we love consistently trying to push something forward.
Tory Burch When I first started the company, I was much more in the design process and then the business took over. It took me years to realize that I had to figure out what my passion was, and that it’s the creative process. I ran the company and created it for 14 years, and in a way, I feel like a new designer right now because Pierre-Yves Roussel came on board [as CEO]. People asked me if it was hard to give up the CEO title. It was the easiest thing I’ve ever done. I realized that I used to spend probably 30 percent of my time on design, and now, it’s 100 percent.
On the thrill of being in the design studio
Tory Burch After 18 years, I have never been more excited about just being in our industry. It is the most special, difficult, hard-working, wonderful industry. Every day, there are new challenges, and you have to figure out how to manage them. It’s amazing having a close team that helps you do that.
On maintaining community
Christopher John Rogers It was never a goal to necessarily have community. It kind of happened naturally. Because our vision was so specific and nuanced, the people who were attracted to it were really attracted because they liked it, not because it was cool or signaled anything other than the person in the clothes. We tried to stick to that visual language throughout all the work, and it’s become a community that likes what we stand for.
Tory Burch Culture is something that I’ve spent a tremendous amount of time with my team on. A great culture is not a given. It’s something you have to work on. I’m sitting here looking at the front row, and there’s Suki [Wong], who’s been with me from day one, and Honor [Brodie], who started our first blog, and Nan [D’Souza Wolfe], and it’s this family environment that you have to believe in.
It rarely works out when people don’t believe in culture. You have to create an environment…one of my goals is to create one where people feel safe, appreciated, and valued, and where they feel like they are doing the best work…in an environment that allows them to have a life.
On doing collaborations
Christopher John Rogers I’ve been lucky enough to have really strong people around me who remind me of who I was, who I am, and who I want to become, and tell me if this collaboration or this partner makes sense not only for this moment but for the next five, 10 years. Is this story we want to tell with the work that we’re making, with the products that our name sits on? Does it feel like the world that we want to build?
Tory Burch I’ve looked at collaborations a bit differently. I’ve learned that saying no is probably the most important thing. For me, collaborations started as a way to highlight people who didn’t necessarily get the credit they deserved, which I was really intrigued with. When I look at the collaborations that we’ve done, most of the people have been around 85 years old. The first collaboration we did was with Dodie Thayer, who was an incredible potter during World War II. I coldcalled her in 2010, when she was 92. She really didn’t know who I was, but she was very appreciative that I loved her work. I flew to Florida and met with her. She just had the most beautiful pottery, and that was our collaboration.
It’s really important to do things that you’re passionate about…You have to follow your own passions and your instinct.
On the power and potential peril of signature items
Christopher John Rogers People obviously know us for stripes, they know us for color…I’m trying to always reinvent this so it’s never exactly the same. It always excites me to try and provide people with more of the thing that makes them happy. I think that the second that we see that people are no longer happy with it, we’ll try something else.
Tory Burch Over the years, we have been so happy about our success with different products. At the same time, you can also become known for them, and that’s hard because you’re doing a lot more than [these signature designs] and you want to make sure that your customer and the world sees you for more than just them.
Now that I have more time, I’ve had the ability to sit back and try to innovate and think about the integrity of design around each piece. And whether it’s our ballet flat or our Lee Radziwill bag, the same amount of energy goes into [the design]. I want to make sure that everything we do is with integrity, and that we become known for not just for one or two things. It’s really about seeing the scope of your work.
On ways to keep in touch with customers
Tory Burch I’ve always been interested in different ways of communicating. In 2004, when we launched our company, I started an e-commerce site, and people told me no one would ever buy online. It was another way to communicate with customers.
TikTok is really interesting now, because it’s just so raw and authentic. I’m not really on it per se, but I like watching my team do such a great job.
On Fashion Week highs and lows
Christopher John Rogers I think it was for Fall ‘19. My team and I all had full-time jobs at the time and we made a collection and pulled it all together. We showed on Canal Street in an old, abandoned building. It was snowing that day… a blizzard, and people just came to the show to support and to see what we were about. And I think that was a really big high for me…and then Michelle Obama’s stylist Meredith Koop reached out to us. I’m an optimist, so only good moments.
Tory Burch I think the show that is the most memorable for me was after COVID because COVID was so rough. And [the models] coming out on Mercer Street and celebrating New York…was really amazing, and then honoring Claire McCardell, who’s a hero of mine. It’s hard to pick a low, because I’m an optimist too, but I’m constantly the hardest on myself. You put your heart and soul into [a collection] for so long, and then, nine minutes later, you’re judged. You just have to move on, and you can’t read into it.
On American Style/Chic
Christopher John Rogers I don’t know if it’s because we live in a microcosm like New York, but I feel like I don’t know if that’s a thing anymore. Because of social media, everything feels flattened in a way. Everyone’s doing their own thing. I’m less concerned with American style, or British style, or whatever, and more concerned with just style, period – people who have their own point of view and are willing to take the risk to take up space in spaces where it’s not always easy to do so.
Tory Burch I love that there are not as many walls as there used to be, and women and men are actually feeling more [empowered] to dress how they feel from an individual standpoint, and I love that. When people aren’t as concerned about trends, they refine their own sense of self and style. I think that’s extraordinary. I love to see people taking interest in how clothes make them feel…for themselves, not for other people.
On AI
Christopher John Rogers It’s interesting. I wish I knew more about it. As with everything, there’s infinite potential to do something insanely amazing, but also insanely scary.
Tory Burch I look at it as a tool. It’s not to replace creativity or designers in any way, but it’s a tool to actually give you the opportunity to be more creative. That’s what I find interesting. It’s still unfolding; it’s almost like when the internet started. I feel like we’re on the cusp of this crazy new horizon of what’s to come. I was saying to the team that however we choose to use it, we need to understand it and be a part of it. And then we can make the decision on if and how we decide to use it or not.
