Tory Burch

Tory Burch (born, June 17, 1966; née Robinson ) is an American fashion designer, business woman and philanthropist who was born, raised and educated in the Philadelphia metropolitan area . She attended the Agnes Irwin School in Rosemont , PA, and the University of Pennsylvania , where she was a member of the sorority Kappa Alpha Theta . After graduation, she moved to New York City, where she began a career working with fashion designers, including Zoran, a Yugoslavian designer. She was a copywriter for Polo Ralph Lauren and worked for Vera Wang . She began a fashion label in February 2004. The label was an immediate success and was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey the following year. The label has stores in several large American cities and has lines that are sold in several upscale specialty department stores . Burch has won several fashion awards for her designs. Her fashion label known as "TRB by Tory Burch"—later as "Tory Burch"—began as a business operation in her Upper East Side apartment and quickly blossomed into free-standing boutiques , now numbering 26. In February 2004, Tory Burch opened a flagship store in the NoLIta neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The store was almost completely sold out on the first day. Stories about her and her fashion line have been in a broad spectrum of magazines and newspapers, and in April 2005, Winfrey endorsed her line on the The Oprah Winfrey Show .¹