mother of six Tory Burch with the help of a rich husband launched his own clothing brand, has become a party to the Forbes list and won ex-husband in court.
Tory Burch does not hide that he was in the number of billionaires of global Forbes list including due to the ex-spouse.If not for his decision last year to get rid of most of the shares of the company once established, the independent consultants would not assess the whole Tory Burch LLC.However PrivCo estimated the business worth more than $ 3 billion, while the value of the share of Tory soared to $ 1 billion. In 2012, she became the second youngest of their own earned a fortune of US women billionaires (younger than her only inventor Spanx Sara Blakely).
47-year-old Tory Burch always stresses that despite the enthusiasm for business, the first place she always family.All of its claims against the now former spouse Christopher lie solely in the business plane, but his love for the children, they are unanimous;and they have the Tories and Chris six - three joint sons and three daughters from his first marriage to Chris.Tori happily she takes children out of school, he attends PTA meetings, visits of sporting events.
Such treatment of children raised in Tori her own family - she grew up in the Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, historic farmhouse surrounded by three older brothers.In "male society" Tory years to ten I prefer to wear jeans and later thought about clothes.The first elegant dress by Yves Saint Laurent, with sequins and lace, her mother bought in the fourth grade.Mother of the future of the designer in his youth was an actress, a friend of Marlon Brando and clothing favored the aristocratic chic a la Jackie Onassis.But most of all Tory admired his father's impeccable taste investment businessman Buddy Robinson.He perfectly combined the capes and costumes, and all together - with scarves from Hermès.After a decade to create his first collection Tori became the main inspiration of her parents outfits 1960-1970-ies from old family photos;and one of the best selling lines of its brand Tory Burch was named in honor of the mother - Reva.
After finishing school for girls Agnes Irwin School Tory studied art history at the University of Pennsylvania, and in the mid-90s moved to New York.There she worked as a copywriter in the magazine Harper's Bazaar, in the fashion house Ralph Lauren, interior designer Vera Wang wedding dress, in the office of the perfume brand Loewe.But the first step to its real business career was a marriage with a wealthy venture capitalist Christopher Burch in 1997.
Chris and myself had the experience of working in the fashion industry.In 1976, he and his brother Robert, investing in the business $ 2,000, settled on one of the factory production line of sweaters Eagle's Eye, which are successfully sold directly in the native college campus in Ithaca.In the next decade, the company's sales amounted to about $ 140 million a year, products are sold in 50 branded stores in the US, and in 1998 the brothers sold the business for $ 60 million.
In the first year of married life at Tory and Chris gave birth to twins, Henry and Nicholas, and2001 - the third son of Sawyer.In parallel, the Tories worked on the idea of a new clothing line on his own sketches.Did not have any experience in the business and a special design education, she has developed a line of women's clothing, which is now called "absolutely unique and very recognizable."As a basis, she took the style that has always been in demand - preppy "- style luxury affluent students of colleges and universities, a little stiff, but very feminine.Her husband Christopher in 2004 invested in the case of $ 2 million and attracted another $ 10 million investment, becoming chairman of the board and CEO of Tory Burch LLC.
style that fashion commentators dubbed as the Preppy-bohemian luxe, was so successful and popular among women of all ages and social categories, that the very first collection was sold almost entirely on the opening day of the store.Flagship store TRB by Tory Burch opened in February 2004 in Nolite, a trendy neighborhood in Manhattan.Tory Burch company instantly became popular, and the Tories received an invitation to the Oprah Winfrey show day in 2005, where it was called the "new value in the fashion world."After the show on toryburch.com within days gone 8 million users.
In 2006, the Tory Reva ballet flats created a rainbow of colors and decorated with the logo of its brand, which immediately became a hit.The number of its stores continued to grow: the brand began to cooperate with an international network of luxury department store Harvey Nichols, opened boutiques in London and Dubai.However, the same year put an end to the marriage of Chris and Tory - the couple began divorce proceedings.
In 2009, the Tory founded Tory Burch Foundation, Foundation for the support of micro-credit and business women entrepreneurs.In the same year, Tory Burch LLC sold a 18% stake in the Mexican investment firm Tresalia Capital, headed by Maria Asuncion Aramburusabala - Mexico's richest woman according to Forbes in 2007.After the transaction, each of the former spouses Birch remained at 28.3% of the company.
By 2010, products with the label Tory Burch is already sold in 25 branded boutiques and more than 450 retail stores in the Americas, Europe and Asia."Godmother" of the project - Oprah Winfrey - includes the final release of "My Favorite Things" Ballerinas Reva, securing them the status of "mandatory."
In 2011, Barclays Capital analysts estimated the cost of Tory Burch LLC $ 2 billion. That same year, the Chinese authorities have identified the production of counterfeit products under the brand Tory Burch, for which the company received $ 164 million - an unprecedented by the standards of the fashion industry a penalty.Meanwhile, the number of employees was already Tory 1000 to 14 at the start of 2014, while revenues reached $ 500 million, of which nearly $ 60 million bringing the site.But then the Tories received an unexpected blow.
Chris Birch started his own fashion design C. Wonder.His very first collection was almost an exact replica models of Tory Burch, only half the price.The experts of the world of fashion and the media no doubt that from the Tory Burch followed suit, but the spring of 2012 he filed a lawsuit Christopher Birch.He accused his ex-wife and the members of the board of obstructing the development of its new business and supplier relationships, as well as pressure when attempting to dispose of its stake in Tory Burch.Tori said counterclaim, accusing the ex-wife of plagiarism: her lawyer had incremental comparison of models from the collections of Tory Burch and C. Wonder, which really showed almost completely identical - right down to the logo and store decor.
Six months later, in December 2012 the conflict of the former spouses has begun to decline: Christopher sold 20% of its shares Tory Burch LLC investment fund General Atlantic and BDT Capital Partners for $ 650 million. Thus, the company was valued at $ 3.25 billion.It was after this transaction by Forbes Tory Burch and Christopher in the ranking of billionaires.At the same time Chris kept its 8.3% stake in Tory Burch LLC worth $ 270 million, but the left seat on the board of directors.
At the end of 2012 Tory Burch brand sales increased to $ 800 million, and a private network at the beginning of 2013 has grown to 83 stores.The next step - a public offering of shares of the company, which can make the former housewife Tory Burch richer.
Natalia Rogacheva
Articles Source: forbes.ru
