How Tory Burch Built a Fashion Empire | PLUS Anok Yai is British Vogue’s Cover Star

0:05This is a run through. I'm Chomanadi and today Chloe is away in LA for the Dior show at LACMA. She sent us a very fun voice note that we'll share later. But now I'm in the London studio with my colleagues Radhika Seth and Laura Ingham. Can you guys introduce yourselves to our wonderful listeners please? Yes. Hi, I'm Radhika, the film and culture editor of British Vogue. And hi, I'm Laura Ingham, the Deputy Director of the Global Fashion Network. Well, you guys are pretty much regulars, but I thought it would be good to reintroduce yourselves. On today's episode, our co-host Nicole Phelps is speaking to the fabulous Tori Birch for a live taping at the Vogue Cafe in New York ahead of the Met Gala.

0:48They talked about her career, her inspirations, the flats that she dressed Anderson Paak in for the Met, and also gave advice to aspiring fashion designers. So stick around to hear that fabulous conversation. But first, our June cover is out and it is of the beautiful Anokyoi. And I'm just so excited about it. Every time I look at it, I just think about how beautiful it is. It was styled by Kate Phelan and photographed by Raphael Pavarotti. And our dear Fumi Fetto, our beauty and wellness director, did the interview. And it's quite an emotional read. It's quite an emotional story. I really wanted her mother and father to be part of the shoot and so we were able to fly them over to Paris for this so it was a really special moment and I understand that there were several tears on set from Anak who really reveres her parents and there's a very sweet relationship between them and obviously she's had such an intense year she revealed earlier in the year that she'd been undergoing treatment for a very serious heart condition that she has and this is the first time that she's speaking since she revealed that diagnosis.

1:59I have so many thoughts about it but Laura I know that you worked on pulling looks and we talked a lot about the shoot and why it had to be joyful. Can you talk a bit about the fashion for this story? Yeah I mean it's so beautiful to see it in print. The first issues just came and hit Choma's desk so we're so excited to see it because it's so beautiful and all of those conversations we had about how you wanted it to feel so personal to her but also for the images to feel tender and intimate really interplay and I think play out in the story not to mention of course Fumi's really beautiful interview so when we're working on the fashion it's quite a lot when you're kind of trying to convey that through the fashion so we work really closely with Kate and And Raph, it's a real collaboration.

2:47We decided that we really wanted to showcase Anok in the new season, autumn, winter collection. So we started pulling from fresh from the runway. We really focused on shape, colour, connection, silhouette. They were kind of the key words that we were talking about. Of course, Raph loves texture, shine and vibrant colour. And you see that in the interplay and the images. I mean it's so beautiful to see how Raph's references that he sent us then play into the fashion and then the final images the picture of not with her mom her braiding her hair that one is one of my favorite images it's so emotional it really is it kind of really hits you doesn't it and um I think just seeing her father as well in his own clothes and I think you can really sharp suit he has yeah the best dress yes totally you can see where she gets her love of fashion So I think it's so nice to have that mix and that really makes it feel very authentic and very real as well as feeling very polished and really that kind of high fashion messaging at the same time.

3:52And it's so stunning. I'm just seeing it for the first time. I know. It's amazing. I was going to say, like, give me your initial thoughts. I just had like a weird flashback while you were talking because I interviewed Anuk like in 2018. Oh, wow. When I was at British Vogue and she like came in, it was like a go see. And I had a chat with her and we put it online. And that was like many, many, like almost 10 years ago, which is so crazy to see how much she's done in this time. And it just looks incredible. Yeah. Yeah, she's really coming to her own. I remember doing an interview around the same time with her.

4:23She was quite shy and she was still kind of learning the ropes. but her enthusiasm and she was just so happy to be in the room you know and it was for a cover story that we did with about 16 models it was like a global cover story and you could just tell that she she had a star quality and she wanted to also to be a voice like she's developed her personality she brings so much to she's become a supermodel you know I think we talk about supermodels and it the word gets thrown around a lot but she is that i'm so lucky to have been on a few sets with her and she never stops working she just gives absolutely everything to that image her dialogue with the team that she's working with is so i know i know i mean she was model of the year and what a crazy year she's had the highs and lows and it just shows you she was just holding all these different emotions at once like what a powerful what a powerful woman my best dressed at the met as well oh yeah oh my god no great yeah especially with those prosthetic tears i could i mean and the hair yeah it was incredible she looked amazing so good um but i wanted to ask you are you all packed for can are you ready i'm not actually i have to go do that after this are you kidding me how do you don't you have to like pack like red carpet cocktail looks i always get paranoid about that i'd have to be packing evening looks to me gives me the most anxiety everything else really i'm the same i'm the same yeah i'm packing for work and i know that there's many multiple nights because how many cocktail looks do you have to well i think i'm it's a few parties but generally i'll be mostly watching loads of stuff in like a very dark room so i think that's lucky but i actually don't have checked luggage this year so wow so you've got to do it with a can with a carry-on yeah this is a story there's a piece in this i'm about to say i'm ready for this so i think maybe like a couple of things that i can wear a few times okay is the safest for me but luckily it's not like so what's the what's the footwear do you do you adhere to all the rules do you do flats you do heels i have been turned away before breaking news i don't know this yeah yeah i mean i've worn yeah because i you know me I wear flats like I don't I don't really wear heels this is why I can would be an absolute disaster for me I wear kitten heels I guess okay and then that's fine but I remember like going to the red carpet and what kind of shoe what was the shoe I think it was like a flat Mary Jane but it was like I was told like I wasn't even told anything she just looked down at my feet and just sort of looked at me and I was like oh okay but luckily they allowed me to go into the screening just not walk the red carpet oh gosh maybe you were spared I hate walking the red carpet but yeah I think if they were like you have to leave which they could do it's not great but I just can't I mean there's so much running between screenings and things it's all very tight I just don't know if I can do it in heels even if it's tiny ones I don't know if I can do it and today you wrote this fab piece about what we might expect with White Lotus being filmed simultaneously I know so it's sort of like my wish list of like what hopefully will turn up in the show because also they'll be filming it while I'm there and I think I heard that Mike White the creator of White Lotus and some of his cast are also walking the red carpet in the second week at some point.

7:39So that will be like quite buzzy and fun, I think. But also I'm just so curious to see what are they going to film? Like what are they picking up? And they're filming for like six months. So it's lots of other stuff as well. But this week I'm like, are they getting like famous cameos? Yeah, this might be the week, right? I can't even imagine the production scale to film live like that at the festival. Having seen a little bit, we were just talking about, I know that we've talked a lot about the Devil Wears Prada. But having seen them film that in Milan during Fashion Week and to see what goes into that and then what ultimately makes the edit on this sort of scale at the festival would be fascinating.

8:15And so top few things that you're looking forward to at Cannes because I always wonder what you're going to be looking out for movie-wise. Yes, so my most anticipated is this film called Fjord and it's by the director Christian Mungui. He made four months, three weeks and two days if you saw that film that won the Palme d 'Or like many years ago. and it's got my queen Renata Rinesver in it. We love her. Yes, we do. So her back on the Canred carpet, always so good. And Sebastian Stan as well. And it's set, I believe, in Norway and it's a story about a Romanian family moving to Norway and kind of what they face when they're there.

8:54It sounds like pretty good potentially, so that will be fun to see. I think the starriest film this year is Paper Tiger with Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. set in like 80s New York it's like a family story with maybe some crime elements as well so that will be interesting to see what that's like also this film called Her Private Hell love the title do you guys like The Neon Demon what are your thoughts about The Neon Demon you know I don't watch horror so I'm tapping out of this question I'm a scaredy cat I can't sleep after that my imagination takes me same um also um this film called full fill which is a christian stewart comedy okay and it's about her and woody howison plays her dad and it was described by the director as like emily in paris in hell wow my gosh which sounds great so they like go to paris and like try to reconnect new destination for emily i know and it's like has those like food poisoning a lot of things go wrong apparently so really pumped for that one actually oh my god that sounds that sounds really fun so like lots of great stuff coming up and also the Avedon documentary we should mention as well because that from Ron Howard yeah lots of really really good stuff and I'm very excited how long are you there for um a week so just over a week okay yeah moving in hand luggage only it's a long time good luck I mean I don't know you're gonna have to have some yeah I think if you it's so funny I went to the Aliyah sample sale so I got some of that oh you did we haven't I've spoken about this.

10:29I know. I know. I didn't have much last time, but there were lots of the pieces that are very, very, like, I think I got them because they're so packable. Really? Yeah. I love a skirt over pants, and they had this in bright pink and a bright pink top, and it's something that I could literally throw in a suitcase. And they just had lots of packable evening wear, so I should have tipped you off to that. But next time. Yes, please. I was going to go, actually. Did you? But I couldn't in the end, because this is, I don't know if I've spoken to you about this, but I'm getting married in June and I'm wearing a liar.

11:04Oh, we didn't know that. Lovely segue. Yeah, yeah. Wow. So tell us about, can you tell us anything about it? You don't want to give too much away, obviously, but for the wedding. Yes. Did you buy it recently? Yes, really recently and I'm getting married in a month so it's been really last minute actually. But I've just been umming and ahhing about it for so long. You're going to have to write about it. Sorry, guys. Sorry. I've told you. Got married in a liar. The headline writes itself. Oh, my God. All I'll say is it's pink. Ah, beautiful. But because I'm Bengali and like a traditional color for a Bengali bride is pink.

11:34But I wouldn't wear like a sari. It didn't feel quite right. So I was like, how do I kind of meet it in the middle somewhere? So that's where I landed. But I got it before I went to the sale. So I was like, OK, I'm not going to buy more stuff. I'm so excited for you. That's amazing. I love. It's my favorite color, basically. You know how much half and I wear pink as well. Yes, I know. I think we're kindred pink spirits. anyway I'm going I've gone left as usual I've drifted I've drifted but I did want to talk a little bit about the few looks that we've seen on the red carpet so far I loved Meadow Walker in jeans in in New Celine which I loved and Michael Ryder is killing it and I thought she looked so fresh and so great to get Meadow Walker Paul Walker's daughter I'm not sure what she's in coming up but love to see her and then Joan Collins I think you were someone who called her out to me this morning in one of our meetings.

12:26I know well because we just we shot her well Vinicius shot her for her biopic and to see her on the carpet at 92. It's amazing. She's wearing heels. I think there's an age limit it's like driving you give up the heels high heels but I just love her commitment she looks incredible and she is in she's going to be playing the Duchess of Windsor with Isabella Rossellini. Can I just say Hayley Maitland, our lovely colleague's piece on Joan is one of the funniest things I've ever read in the magazine. It's so, so good. Please go and read it. I love Hayley. I don't want to give it all away. No, no, I'm not going to say anymore.

13:00Just knowing what's in her living. I think Hayley arrived and she was finishing up a Pilates session with her personal trainers. Yes. And she was like in a living room surrounded by pictures of herself. so I think it was quite an interesting scene. She was wearing trackies and a giant crucifix and I feel like I just thought that's it like you could end the piece like it was so so good it's so good it's so funny and the project sounds really fascinating. Well tomorrow I'm going to the palace for the annual Buckingham Palace garden party and the dress code is really strict I'm just hoping it doesn't rain because the weather has been...

13:42Spring has really not sprung here yet. Apparently, spring will show up next week. I've heard the same. We've had the showers. We've had hail today. I hope you don't get hail tomorrow. I know. I'm just like, is there a contingency plan? Where does the garden party happen at the Buckingham Palace? Does it go inside? Is it like a marquee or something? I don't know. I don't know. I'll report back. I'm wearing Erdem, I think. I've got this really beautiful burnt orange dress Yes, it would look great on you, actually. I would say I wanted to get a red cardigan because I know that you would have paired it with red because I always love your colour blocking, but I wasn't able to find one.

14:21So I'm going with grey, slate grey, a slate grey Tory Burch cardie that I have. I'm very committed to the cardie, but you have to, I'm not going with the hat, which is something that they do suggest. But it's not compulsory. Highly recommend it. It's not compulsory. It's not compulsory, right? I heard this as well. It's not compulsory, but you have to wear a suit, a trouser suit or a dress and there should be some sort of hat. But I think this year I'm not a hat person. Can't get with it. I've been a hat person. I've done the fedora. There was a time when you wouldn't see me without a fedora. Wow.

14:55Yeah, but that time is gone. So we're moving on from there. The perfect place to bring it back is back. I mean, maybe, wasn't there a season that Saint Laurent had like, I don't know. I can't, there's no hat that I can see myself. I don't know. Anyway, but we shall see. Speaking of fashion shows, our lovely Chloe is in LA right now at the Dior show. And so we'll get a lovely voice note from her. All right, we are in the car at LAX, me and Samantha Sussman, fresh off our flight from New York City. Our flight left at 8 a.m. Sam Sussman pulled off a daring feat. She left her apartment in lower Manhattan at 6.33 and made it onto the plane by 7.33.

15:38Shock and awe. I, of course, basically slept at the airport. Samantha, how are you feeling? Feeling great. We are take Chloe and Sam, take LA. I can't wait to add some color to this story. I'll give lots of Chloe updates. We had a packed flight with Dior goers like Grace Gummer, Sam Hine, and now we're off to the peninsula, which we are very happy about tonight there is a welcome dinner at chaplin recording studios which i was talking to um some elderly los angelinos i.e my mother and uncle about last night and they were saying that that was charlie chaplin's original recording studios and then it was where a &m records would record everything so i'm really excited and that jim henson did a lot of muppet work there, which is very exciting to me.

16:32So that's going to be a fun moment. And their Dior resort show is tomorrow evening at the new Geffen Galleries at LACMA, which is the same location that Vanity Fair had its Oscar party this March. They're offering tours after the show, so I'm excited. I know! I love a museum at night. Famously. Famously. Private tours.

17:03I always love her voice notes. But I also know that, Laura, you are going to be packing soon for New York. I am. For Gucci. Are you ready? I'm just so curious about the location. Me too. I know we're speculating. We were just on a call with our colleagues in New York and they were like, maybe we think it might be here. We can't say. Gucci won't. A very tight-lipped about it. So are Vita on their shows later next week as well. I'm going to take more than hand luggage though, Rad. I was going to say, how much are you packing? What are you packing? I share Choma's fear for evening events. We know that there's a dinner on the Friday night and then the Gucci show is at 9pm on Saturday.

17:46So basically you're wearing like cocktail. Yeah, so we need to be in something or other, super smart. And then we'll re-see everything on the Sunday and then we kind of switch over and then Vuitton's on the Wednesday early evening, I think. But still no clue as to where these shows are going to be. But I'm excited to hear from Chloe because Jonathan's show in LA, his first show in the States, I'm quite obsessed that he decided to go to LA for his first crew show. Oh, it's at LACMA though, which makes sense, which really tracks for Jonathan because he's so embedded in the art world and has such immaculate taste in art and knows many artists personally.

18:27So it makes so much sense he's doing it there. And it's also a fab location. Christian Dior took his 1947 show to the US. It was his first show there. And it was kind of met with protests like around fabrication and around his use of corsetry. So kind of like the twist, but Jonathan's also taking his first cruise show there as well. Wow. I didn't know that piece of fashion history. I know. And also the newspaper print. We were talking about this. Yeah, the newspaper print is well and truly back. Yeah. Jonathan posted a picture of the newspaper print bag on his socials. Yeah. Obviously, John first kind of commissioned or presented his newspaper print in, I think it was back in 2000s.

19:10And then Sarah Jessica Parker wore the dress. Yes, the infamous dress. And how much did that dress go for? I think it sold for upwards of... It was like, I saw something. I've seen different things. I think it was like around 70 ,000. so and then we saw Mathieu put some newspaper print dresses in his show in Berets so I can't wait to see the collection on Monday night we've had a busy week Monday night Louisa Laura and I went to see our colleague Louisa went to see into Alia starring Rosamund Pike and that was it was Incredible, incredible show. And yesterday evening was the opening of 1536. Is it called 1536?

19:55Yeah. A play that's produced by Margot Robbie. And I think it was one of the most star-studded crowd. Quentin Tarantino was there. Baz Luhrmann was there. Baz Luhrmann was there. So, and I think it's going to be turned into a TV show. So it's a real, really hot ticket in London, I would say. So there's lots going on here. Yeah, it's really fun. because when I interviewed Margot for our cover story, I said, what's a young writer or director that you love? And she said Ava Pickett. Yeah, Ava Pickett is the new girl, isn't she? Yeah. She's writing Baz Luhrmann's Joan of Arc film, I think. Yeah. And yeah, Margot was just raving about her.

20:31She said that it was like the best play she'd ever seen. So I was like, I need to go see this play. So one of my favorite shows of, I think it was 2025 that First Rivals came out. Was it 2024? 2024. We've been waiting two years for this. I am so pumped because it was it's such a cheeky and wonderful adaptation of a very beloved novel by Jilly Cooper, who wrote a fantastic piece for us about what it what it meant sort of now and then for her to see a novel that she wrote in the 80s about the Cotswolds and the culture they're brought to life. so I'm just excited to see it all come back because season one was just delicious like all the things that you want from a TV show kind of naughty, a bit of sexy time, a bit of I mean the 80s costumes the 80s costumes which were great I mean it's just so so good yeah and then I think season two is getting rave reviews in the premieres tonight yeah that's right and then I think the first few episodes come out on Friday Okay, so we have to wait till Friday.

21:35I can handle that. This is perfect timing. I'm downloading for my flight on Friday. I think you're perfect. Oh, you're going to love it. I like it. You're going to love it. Start with season one. I'm in. It's so good. That's it for the news of the week. The run-through will be back in just a moment with Nicole's interview with designer Tori Butch.

22:07Hi, I'm Rebecca Ford. And I'm John Ross. And we're the hosts of Little Gold Men, Vanity Fair's podcast for film, TV, and awards lovers. And just because the Oscars are done, for now, doesn't mean we are. Join us every week for coverage of the biggest stories in Hollywood, interviews with today's brightest stars, and so much more. Listen to Little Gold Men every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts.

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23:20Tori Birch, welcome to The Run-Through, live from the Vogue Cafe in Soho. Thank you. Thank you so much, Nicole. We've known each other a long time. Yes, we have. So it's been so much fun working with you. I want to thank you all for being here at 9 a.m. on a Saturday. I was told by Vogue, our events team, that these tickets sold out in four minutes. Yes. Tori, you said on a recent podcast that I listened to that you haven't had lunch during the week in 20 years since you founded your brand. As busy as you are, I want to know what a typical Saturday morning at 9 a.m. is like for you. Well, I should say lunch out.

24:03I eat lunch. And the reason I said that is because sometimes people come up to me and they're like, do you go into the office? I'm like, yeah, I go into the office. And it's almost as if they think I didn't work. And so that's why I said I haven't had lunch in 21 years. A typical Saturday morning. Okay, I'm a dog lover. I'm obsessed with my dogs. I have three boys, and their friends are generally, like, spewn all over our apartment in some way. But, yeah, I wake up. I tend to wake up later on a Saturday. But first call my mom, of course, and then take the dogs for a walk. So it's a little more.

24:43I'm not really dressed in sparkly shoes. So, of course, this is not a regular Saturday. We are about 48 or so hours out from the Met Gala. And that is obviously top of mind for all of us at Vogue. We want to know about your first Met Gala. I used to go to the Met after the Met, after the dinner. It was all the, everyone, all the older people would go. And there was this dance party where it's like maybe 500 people would then pour into the Met. And it was so much fun. So that was my first experience at the Met. It was really about going to the after party. And I was probably in my 20s. And then I was looking at a picture.

25:29The earliest I found when I went to the dinner was probably in 2005. Do you remember what you were wearing? I was wearing a vintage Dior dress. Oh, wow. I was right when I started my company. So tell us a bit about your Met Gala prep this year. Last year, you dressed Pamela Anderson, the actress and cultural icon, as well as the actress and director Janik Sabravo. How do you approach dressing talent versus creating a collection? And what do you like about the collaborative process between a star and yourself? Yeah, I mean, it's so different because it is a collaboration. And that's kind of the amazing thing.

26:08I'm sort of looking at who they are and sort of what they've worn in the past also, because we want to do something different. You know, I think a lot about when I dress people, what emotion and how, and confidence and how they'll feel. And so we start there. I often ask them if they want to put together a small mood board, because I kind of want to get into their head. And so that is where the collaboration starts. We talk about fabrics or embroideries or colors. And so it's an iterative process. And without telling us what you yourself are wearing on Monday night, how do you decide what you're going to wear?

26:48It's a challenge, you know, because I'm so focused on the people we're dressing that I tend to leave me for last. So this year I'm wearing vintage. Okay, well, we will be watching closely. So this year's Met Gala theme is quite up your alley, I think, actually. It is about the connection between and the intersection between art and fashion. Tell us how art inspires your work. Well, I was an art history major. I went to Penn, so art I grew up with in sort of a different kind of way. My parents, I wouldn't say, they're collectors of all kinds of things, and it was never really about a price point.

27:25It was about things that they had a connection with. My grandfather had suits of armor. So I was like thinking about even that kind of fashion. My parents loved folk art. They loved pottery. So there was always like this eclectic sort of feel. But when it's kind of, it goes back to emotion too. When you think about when I design, it's how it makes you feel. When you look at a painting or sculpture, it's how it makes you feel. So when you walk through the Met, fashion carries through every part of the museum. So there's so much connectivity. Every collection I've ever done references some kind of painting or color or just period of art.

28:07Do you have a favorite piece of art that has fashion or clothing in it? You know, it's funny. We just finished working on our Paris apartment, and there's a contemporary artist, Romal Hutsami, who does, he takes garbage, and he's an African artist, and he makes these incredible African masks. And part of what he, so it's out of everything that he finds. And then I have this old master painting, and I sort of put them next to each other. And what I loved is there was a lace collar on one of his African masks that tied in with a lace collar on this portrait that was from the 17th century. So for me, it's kind of interesting to think about it that way.

28:53So this has been an extremely busy week for you. You don't just have the Met Gala prep on Thursday morning at the Pierre. You hosted a breakfast for the Tory Burch Foundation. Tell us about the work you do at the foundation. Yeah, so that was early, 745. We got 400 people. So that was, listen, I started my company because I wanted to start a foundation, as you mentioned. And in 2004, that was a very foreign idea. And people did not like it. And it was, I kept thinking that business and purpose have to go hand in hand. And if I didn't have the money to start a foundation back then. So I thought if I could build a successful business, I would have the money to start a foundation.

29:39I knew that it would entail women because I think women are the answer. I think if women were in charge right now, things would be very different. So I started the company in 2004, the foundation in 2009. So it was quite early in the sort of the life cycle of a company to start a foundation. And what we do is we support women entrepreneurs in the United States. And that's through mentoring, through community, and through access to capital. And so what I find is that it's as amazing for me and our team and all the mentors as it is for the entrepreneurs. And they're often single moms. They have incredible businesses.

30:27They're paying back their loans at a 98 % rate. So women are a great investment. They're gritty. They're tenacious. They're building businesses that last. And that's something that we're trying to do. When we can get their businesses to reach a million in revenue, we see a sustainable business. And then they're investing back into their communities. So they're, you know, it's a win for the bottom line too. Well, as a member of an editorial team, I am always so impressed with entrepreneur spirit because I, you know, I'm one of a group of people with whom I, you know, I could not do anything without.

31:06So people who have that kind of ambition to do something, to start something so impressive to me. And I have to say that I told you this earlier, at the breakfast, I found myself like on the verge of tears listening to these women's stories. You brought three women who have gone through your program up on stage and they talked about their experiences and grit is really, really at the heart of it. What have you learned, would you say, from working with this community of women? I mean, I've learned everything. I see resilience. That's one thing. I talk a lot about confidence. I think when I started, I didn't have a network of women or men to reach out to.