Tory Burch's 'Walk the Walk' Campaign Needs to Take Luxury in a New Direction

Tory Burch’s Spring Summer 2020 campaign celebrates Ambition with Purpose. Mikael Jansson photographed Anok Yai and Natalia Vodianova, who talk about the positive side of ambition in Tory Burch’s 2020 ‘Walk The Walk’ campaign.

The successful fashion business leader has been a champion of women and girls — and especially as entrepreneurs — for a decade through The Tory Burch Foundation.

Then came COVID-19, where Tory Burch really stepped up her game as a fashion industry leader, arguing for more money from the Trump Administration to help American brands and retail workers, along with small labels. Her Tory Burch Foundation website is full of COVID-19 related links for help.

And then came the early summer of murder of George Floyd before the eyes of the entire world. Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin and three other cops held George Floyd in a neck and full body hold face down for about nine minutes, as bystanders and media watchers saw him die before our very eyes.

More than 250 people were arrested in early morning hours Monday, as protesters moved from Downtown Brooklyn and Midtown to Soho. The day took a major toll on luxury retailers like Bloomingdales, Chanel, Gucci, Nike, North Face and Tory Burch. Many stores were just reopening as states sought to ease restrictions and restart shopping experiences.

Peaceful protesters actually formed a human chain to protect looting in what appears to the Tory Burch Soho store. If you look at these images, they are staggering. Damage to and looting of luxury retailers in Santa Monica was severe, but it’s unclear if Tory Burch’s store was among them.

Not since 1968, with the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy has America seen such widespread violence. Local New York Bedford+Bowery, produced by NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute in collaboration with New York magazine, shows a list of over 50 Soho stores totally looted. Dior is clean as a whistle.

The fashion industry entered late May, immersed in deep conversation about changes long overdue in our business sector. Now we add America total crisis over racism and inequality. Tory Burch is among the luxury brands who has learned some lessons on the topic of racism and cultural appropriation. We have every expectation that she will rise as a leader on the future of luxury brands and the fashion calendar — but even more critical now, the status and social/economic obligations in an American society who is saying “enough is enough”.

Put the anarchists and looters aside. Many want to destroy Tory Burch and every other luxury company on the planet. Across this land, tens of millions of Americans — and especially young Americans — cannot live any longer in a world so totally out of whack between the so-called 1% and everybody else.

Major rethinks are required, and Tory Burch’s voice, anchored as well by her marriage to  Pierre-Yves Roussel, a former LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton executive, has a perspective that will be critical as we consider how best to move forward.