An Afternoon with Tory Burch!

Society with Ruchi

Fashionable smart professional women gathered at the Westin Galleria on Wednesday April 6, 2011 for the Greater Houston Conference for Women “A Conference Focused on Engagement and Action” with keynote speaker Tory Burch.

The audience was very excited to hear the achievements of the very successful fashion designer and entrepreneur Tory Burch, CEO, Tory Burch LLC. Born in Valley Forge, Tory graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Art History and then moved to New York to pursue a career in the fashion industry. Today Tory Burch is one of America’s most successful fashion designers who has also worked for some designers, including Ralph Lauren, Vera Wang and Narciso Rodriguez before launching her own line in 2004.

Later in the afternoon Tory visited her showroom in the galleria mall which is located opposite the Louis Vuitton store and next to Bebe. At her store we sipped champagne tasted exotic bites and indulged in a brief tete-a-tete . The very humble Burch started the interview with a warm handshake and shared her memories of Kolkata, India where she had visited Mother Teresa in the late 80’s. She informed about The Tory Burch Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides economic opportunity to women and their families in the United States. Based on her own experience as a working parent, Tory believes that one of the most powerful ways to create change is to economically empower women.

Speaking about fashion and Tory’s style Burch explained that she was a huge fan of bright colors and that orange was her favorite color. She added that the latest Summer Resort collection was an inspiration from her recent stay in Rajasthan, India. Tory’s collection was definitely a frenzy of Indian colors, fabrics and embroidery that revealed a lot of gold sequins work. The latest in her showroom was the bright orange Indian Kurta style shirt with golden embellishments. An orange button down shirt dress and a lot of navy blue. Shoppers also fancy her affordable accessories and wedge style sandals. Burch even complimented Indian women and their beauty and the vibrant choice of colors in their day to day fashion. “I am trying to bring all of that into my collection,” said Tory.

The store in galleria was bustling with her fans who had gathered to shop and some to just pose for a photograph with the muse. “I am a huge fan of Tory Burch. Love her style the colors and specially the shoes,” says Meghaan C. Mac Elror. Tory made special efforts to attend to her fans and shoppers. Overall a great afternoon with a great designer. What next? Shopping time at Tory Burch!

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