Tory Burch and Pierre-Yves Roussel on Building a Global Brand with Local Relevance

Summary

The Business of Fashion Podcast: Tory Burch and Pierre-Yves Roussel on Building a Global Brand with Local Relevance

Release Date: April 18, 2025
Host: Imran Ahmed, Founder and CEO of The Business of Fashion

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Business of Fashion Podcast, host Imran Ahmed engages in an insightful conversation with Tory Burch, the renowned fashion designer and entrepreneur, alongside her husband and business partner, Pierre-Yves Roussel. The discussion, recorded at BoF Crossroads in Dubai, delves into the intricacies of building a global fashion brand while maintaining local relevance and authenticity.

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Personal Journeys and Partnership

The episode begins with Imran Ahmed reflecting on his past interactions with Tory Burch, highlighting the unique and powerful dynamic of their personal and professional relationship.

Tory Burch shares the unconventional beginnings of her partnership with Pierre-Yves Roussel:

“We met through bankers. We had a meeting for breakfast at the Ritz in Paris and I think you had heard about our business. We had a great meeting, I think it lasted two hours.”
(00:34)

Pierre-Yves elaborates on their collaboration:

“I was very impressed with Tory's success... She was one of the very first to be on e-commerce. She created the first blog on fashion with the Tori Daly, you remember, of course, and social media.”
(03:09)

Their relationship, both personal and business-oriented, showcases a blend of Tory's entrepreneurial spirit and Pierre-Yves' methodical approach, creating a balanced leadership dynamic.

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Authenticity and Local Relevance in Global Branding

A significant portion of the conversation centers on maintaining authenticity while expanding globally. Tory emphasizes the importance of genuine engagement with local cultures:

“It seems so superficial to hear, let's just transplant a Westerner into a market. And that's just the opposite of how we look at things.”
(01:04)

Pierre-Yves echoes this sentiment, stressing that authenticity is increasingly sought after by consumers:

“People are really looking for authenticity... You attract the people that relate to who you are and what you stand for and what you propose.”
(01:12)

They discuss the challenges of a saturated market where brands often use similar formulas, leading to overexposure and homogenization. Tory and Pierre-Yves highlight their strategy of deeply understanding and respecting local traditions and cultures to ensure each market feels uniquely catered to without diluting the brand's core essence.

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Navigating Supply Chain and Tariff Challenges

The conversation shifts to the operational side, particularly addressing the recent tariff announcements that have unsettled the fashion industry. Imran poses questions on how businesses like Tory Burch navigate such uncertainties.

Pierre-Yves Roussel explains their diversified sourcing strategy:

“Our strategy is really finding all those global sourcing... It takes years to build the proper sourcing and the partnership with suppliers that really understand and work with you.”
(24:02)

Tory adds that their approach goes beyond mere compliance, fostering meaningful partnerships with local teams:

“We have incredible teams that partner with the people on the ground... I want to know because I'm doing all the product.”
(19:56)

Despite the unpredictability of tariffs, they maintain a steadfast focus on product quality and strategic partnerships, ensuring resilience against market fluctuations.

---

Strategic Growth and Market Expansion

Imran inquires about growth strategies amidst a volatile market landscape. Tory articulates their philosophy of purposeful growth:

“I want growth to be meaningful and have a long-term perspective on the health of the business.”
(28:00)

Pierre-Yves highlights the advantages of being a private company, allowing them to control growth pacing without external funding pressures:

“We can really decide the pace at which we grow... We've been self-financing our own development.”
(28:45)

They discuss their focused expansion in emerging markets like the Middle East and Southeast Asia, tailoring their offerings to meet diverse customer needs while preserving the brand's unique value proposition.

---

Fostering a Purpose-Driven Company Culture

A recurring theme is the alignment of business objectives with purposeful initiatives. Tory underscores the foundational belief that profit and purpose can coexist harmoniously:

“I started with an idea that business and purpose could go hand in hand... It will never change.”
(11:42)

She elaborates on their commitment to women's empowerment and creating an inclusive workplace that celebrates diversity:

“We spend a lot of time working on [company culture]... diversity is super important to me and has been from day one.”
(13:35)

Pierre-Yves adds that their authenticity and integrity resonate globally, reinforcing the brand’s mission and fostering genuine connections with customers.

---

Advice for Emerging Entrepreneurs

Towards the end of the episode, Imran seeks advice for budding entrepreneurs. Pierre-Yves praises Tory's positive outlook and resilience:

“As an entrepreneur, you have to look at the opportunity and you have to have an incredible drive... The personality and the character is what makes a huge difference.”
(32:53)

Tory encourages entrepreneurs to defy external expectations and carve their own paths:

“Don't let people put you in a box... write your own story.”
(33:32)

Their combined wisdom emphasizes the importance of authenticity, resilience, and purposeful growth in building a lasting and impactful business.

---

Conclusion

The episode concludes with reflections on the inspiring atmosphere in Dubai and the mutual appreciation between the hosts and guests. Tory expresses her admiration for the region’s vibrant culture and the genuine love people have for living authentically:

“It's really wonderful to see... more people absolutely love living here, like authentically through and through.”
(33:54)

Imran wraps up by acknowledging the invaluable insights shared by Tory and Pierre-Yves, leaving listeners with a profound understanding of what it takes to build a global brand that remains locally relevant and authentically driven.

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Key Takeaways

• Authenticity is Paramount: Building a global brand requires genuine engagement with local cultures and maintaining the brand's core essence.
• Strategic Partnerships and Diversified Sourcing: Long-term relationships with local partners and a diversified supply chain are crucial for resilience against market changes.
• Purpose-Driven Growth: Aligning business growth with meaningful missions fosters deeper connections with customers and sustainable success.
• Adaptability and Resilience: Navigating industry challenges with calmness and strategic foresight ensures long-term stability and growth.

---

This episode serves as a valuable resource for fashion entrepreneurs and industry professionals seeking to understand the balance between global expansion and local authenticity, offering practical insights and inspirational advice from two seasoned leaders in the fashion world.

Transcript

[Imran Ahmed]

Foreign.

Hi, this is Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Business of Fashion. Welcome to the BoF podcast. It's Friday, April 18th. From the outset, Tory Burch had a vision to create a business where profit and purpose could go hand in hand. She was quick to take her brand global, first to Tokyo in 2009 and then onto Rome, Paris, Shanghai and beyond. Today, Tory Burch operates than 350 stores around the world and across the global south, including the Middle East, Latin America and Asia. Her partner in life and business, Pierre Yves Roussel, joined the company as CEO in 2019 after working with some of the industry's top creatives as Chairman and CEO of the Fashion Group at lvmh. Together, they've taken a measured, intentional approach to growth, balancing global ambition with a focus on finding local relevance.

[Tory Burch]

It seems so superficial to hear, let's just transplant a Westerner into a market. And that's just the opposite of how we look at things.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

And authenticity is, I think, what people are going to be looking for more and more. And you don't try to please every customer in the world. You know, that's not the point. You attract the people that relate to who you are and what you stand for and what you propose.

[Imran Ahmed]

This week on the BoF podcast, I'm pleased to share this conversation with Tori and Pierre Yves from BoF Crossroads in Dubai, exploring what it means to build an authentic global brand in today's competitive fashion marketplace. Here's Tory Burch and Pierre yvesel on the BoF podcast.

Ron, hello. Hello, Tori. You know, the last time you and I sat down for an interview like this, it was, I think we were at Central Saint Martin. So there is, I think it was like over 10 years ago.

[Tory Burch]

We're long overdue, Imran.

[Imran Ahmed]

It's long overdue and it's happening here in Dubai. And I want to talk in a minute about why you're both here, because there's lots to talk about there. But I want to start with the personal story that I started with, which is it's unusual and potentially really powerful to have a working and personal relationship like the two of you do. Can you share with us a little bit about the background of how you ended up working and being together in life and business?

[Tory Burch]

Well, it's very exciting. We met through bankers. So, Piri, you want to start or do you want me to? So, no, really, we met through bankers. We had a meeting for breakfast at the Ritz in Paris and I think you had heard about our business. We had a great Meeting, I think it lasted two hours. It was you and Tony. And they sent an email after the meeting and I missed the email. So I did not email him back. I think you had an interest in investing in our business and I missed the email. I didn't email him back.

[Imran Ahmed]

Oh, really? So that was like a real.

[Tory Burch]

It was a real meeting and it was a real miss on my part. So. So I didn't email him for a year. And a year later I had to email him because I was being sued by my ex husband. I was. My board was. Our entire company was. And he was deposing every single person we ever had a meeting with. A business meeting.

[Unknown]

Oh, wow.

[Tory Burch]

So I called Pierre Eve and you can take it. You can.

[Imran Ahmed]

And then what happened from there? Pier Eve.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

And from there? Yeah, I was surprised that she did. We had a great breakfast and we were very interested. I mean, I was very impressed with Torrey's success, I mean, what she had achieved back in 2012. So that was eight years after you had launched the brand in 2004. And I thought that what she was doing and on multiple level was very interesting. I mean, she was one of the very first to be on E commerce. She created the first blog on fashion with the Tori Daly, you remember, of course, and social media. I mean, there were so many things that was innovative in the way she was approaching fashion. And you know, you've been in that industry for as long as I have been, and there's very few success of designer and founders that have reached a scale, you know, in the. Even in the last 20 years. If you look in the last 20 years, probably less than not even five brands that I mentioned that I've reached, you know, significant scale. So we were kind of fascinating with that. So we had those discussion and we were interested in investing, you know, in the brand and thinking about our investment, it took another turn because our relationship.

[Imran Ahmed]

You took another kind of investment.

[Tory Burch]

Exactly.

[Imran Ahmed]

What's it like working together as husband and wife?

[Tory Burch]

I mean, first of all, it took me four years to convince him to come on board. This was not a given.

[Imran Ahmed]

So you were married first?

[Tory Burch]

Well, we were together for a long time, so. And you know, he was living in Paris, I was living in New York. And so it wasn't exactly in the same country. So it took a while. I always admired Puree and obviously his CEO skills and his brand building and all the things that he's done at LVMH and McKinsey, but he has such an innate sense of understanding creatives and I think that that's very unusual for a CEO to be thinking about that. So I thought, listen, if he ever would consider running our company, I said to our board, this would be an absolute gift to us. Like, this is not exactly what Pierre Yves was thinking would be his next phase in his career. But I think it's been incredible. I mean, we have very different styles. And we were talking to Patrick and Inji last night saying how I'm a total entrepreneur. I think quickly, I go by instinct, and you're much more methodical. And I don't want to speak for you, but go ahead.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

You know that both Thinking Fast and Slow by this Nobel Prize winner called Daniel Kahneman, which, by the way, passed away not so long ago. And we actually had dinner with him like a year ago. And he wrote that book, which is called Thinking Fast and Slow, which, by the way, I highly recommend. It's a very interesting book. Try things fast. I think slow, you know, like, very methodical. And I think that's how we complement each other. But, you know, I really, you know, we love working. I mean, obviously, I think the brand is incredibly interesting. We do a lot of things. We have a size which allow us to do interesting things. At the same time, we're not too big, so we can be agile and still entrepreneur. So we kind of in that sweet spot where we have scale, but still a lot of potential ahead of us. And working together has been obviously a personal decision. I was not convinced in the first place.

[Imran Ahmed]

So what convinced you?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

Because we started actually when I was relocating to New York because we're getting married. So I was thinking of what would be my next steps. And we actually worked on. We bought back one of our early investor in the brand. And I worked on that transaction with Story and it was like real work on working with. It was the first time that we were. Before it was just giving advice or changing. And it felt very natural and very organic. And I started to spend time with the team and the culture. And at one point I said, honestly, she had to have someone coming on.

[Imran Ahmed]

Board because you were the CEO, right?

[Tory Burch]

For 14 years. And I will say it was a big. And I have a great team, but not my skill set. In retrospect, it was wonderful. And I loved building the business, but I really love the creative process more. And it was pulling me in so many different directions. I used to spend maybe 20% of my time on the creative, and now it's 100%.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah.

[Tory Burch]

I hope you've seen a bit of a change because the torissance.

[Imran Ahmed]

Of course I have. That's what everyone in New York is talking about. That's a good segue to the state of American fashion. You know, there's the kind of big picture of what's going on. And I think the fashion industry just generally is in a very unusual place right now. I mean, you've both been working in the industry for almost 20 years. I cannot recall a moment in fashion where things felt so blurry and so confused.

[Tory Burch]

Globally, just.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah, I mean globally, particularly with big western brands that have had a lot of success in the last 10 years. A lot of them, as I was saying here yesterday, a lot of them using kind of a formula that worked. And you talked, Pierre Yves, about Tori being one of the first designers to use social media and think about creating her own content, which was completely different for brands before brands didn't brands. There's a very clear system. It was like a brand talks to a pr, the PR helps to get stories placed. And it was all this very linear process. Right. The communication in the fashion world has completely changed since then. It's like a multifaceted, many to many conversation. And the last 10 years has been incredible. As we've seen the way fashion engages with customers. But now it feels like the industry is maybe overexposed. There's too much content. Everybody's doing the same things. You look at ads or social media content. If you remove the little logo or don't look at which account it is, you don't even know which brand it's from. Like, what do you make of the state of fashion right now?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

I think there's. There's so many things happening in the world, but I think it's probably worth to go back to a form of authenticity. If I were to try to describe what's probably. I think people probably feel that there's too much formula around. Everyone is doing pretty much the same thing. There's a lot of debate also around the value and pricing. A lot of change of designer, which is probably needed because you need creativity. Go from one brand to another so people can see and read to everything. I mean, the customer are sophisticated, they see it a lot because everything is exposed. And I think they are really looking for authenticity. We are very unique in a way. We were at Dubai Mall yesterday because we were reopening our store. And you walk in the Dubai Mall, which is probably the biggest mall in the world. I mean, 80 million people visiting this mall.

[Imran Ahmed]

It's incredible, it's insane. And for so many brands, it's the number one.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

It's in a store. It's incredible.

[Imran Ahmed]

Right?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

But then you look at all those brands that are working them all. I mean, we're probably one of the very few, I don't know, maybe the only one where we have a brand on the store which is Tori's name and she's still running the business and creating.

[Tory Burch]

He's not replacing me yet.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

And so, you know, the authenticity of what we do and what we, what we say and we're going to talk about a lot of other things that Tory brought very early on, like the foundation and being a purpose driven company which a lot of brands now are bringing into, but it was really part of the brand in the first place. So, you know, a lot of the things that are the essence of and makes I think this brand unique and why it's resonating everywhere. Sometimes when people ask me describe what this brand is about and I talked about authenticity and integrity and authenticity is I think what people are going to be looking for more and more. And there's different answer for different brands out there. So I'm not going to speak for any of those brands out there, but authentic project with real connection that are different. And you don't try to please every customer in the world. That's not the point. You attract the people that relate to who you are and what you stand for and what you propose. I think that's the way I'm looking at it today.

[Imran Ahmed]

Tory, what would you add to that?

[Tory Burch]

I mean, I think I started with an idea that business and purpose could go hand in hand. And I think back then, 20 years ago, that was a very novel idea and one that was not very popular. So to have a North Star and that is women for me and it's women globally that have always been so inspiring. But we started with women entrepreneurs in the United States and the company launched in 2004 and then the foundation in 2009. And it was really part of my business plan from day one is how do we have a successful business with incredible products, but that actually has deeper meaning and will help support a foundation for women entrepreneurs. So that was sort of the framework. I think as we've gone, it's been such an incredible experience to have the women that we work with also weigh in and on our product. And it's been such a win for our employees, it's a win for our customer and it's become this like incredible win, win across the board. And so I think if we could be role models for business to have purpose in a very authentic way. I'm very proud of that. I also think of just. Even the culture, that's a big thing at our company. We spend a lot of time working on that. That's a differentiator. I don't know that. And I don't want to say American brands. I think all, like, how do people feel when they work in your office? You know, people are spending a tremendous amount of time at their workplace, and we want to have a workplace that celebrates different kinds of people, different thinking, diversity. It's all something that is super important to me and has been from day one. And that's something that will never change.

[Imran Ahmed]

So I love that because at BoF, we talk a lot about purpose as well, like having a business grounded in a really clear mission that people can understand and get behind. Yesterday we were talking about how you take businesses like yours and you make them work in markets like these. Right. And there's this kind of notion that in the past, the way most big international brands would operate in new markets is they'd have a template formula, and they come and they kind of plop that template in different markets. I'll never forget, once I was in. I think it was Indonesia, and I was walking through one of the, like, fancy shopping malls, and it was literally quite 40 degrees outside, and. And the stores inside the mall had, like, winter clothes. And that's, like, a very basic thing. But, like, I think. How do you think about taking your kind of global. It's not even your global. Your authentic purpose, your vision, your. Your kind of positioning of Tory Burch as a brand and localizing that for different markets. Because you have stores all over the world. How do you localize while keeping that same core Tory Burch essence?

[Tory Burch]

Yeah, And I can speak just initially how we approached it from day one. And going into any market, we wanted to really learn the market, the local traditions, respect the cultures. And so that's something that's always been deeply important to me. So even our second store was in Japan. It was a very different culture, and 20 years ago, even more so. So I think, you know, we have this foundation that is about what we are changing now. Women's empowerment. We're changing the way we talk about that because women have the power. We're helping them realize their power. We're not bestowing it.

[Imran Ahmed]

So what changed?

[Tory Burch]

Well, just the way we say women's empowerment. But that might not resonate in Japan the same way that it does. But what's another part of what we do is it's about involving men in our conversation. And that's a big.

[Imran Ahmed]

You can't have women's empowerment.

[Tory Burch]

Of course not. And we need men to be our allies. We need men. And it seems what's so exciting to me being here is that you feel it, it's palpable. You feel the change, you feel the support, you feel how that's happening. And I said to a group of women, I always say this. I said, we can feel how we feel about women and women's equality or anything. And we're going to be talking to ourselves. If we're sitting in a room talking to women, that's just not interesting. And it's not going to move the needle at all.

[Imran Ahmed]

And then, Pierre Yves, in terms of like the more methodical business side of things, in terms of how you think about operating globally but creating a local authenticity, how do you do that?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

That's the thing we discussed a lot. I think what helped, as Dori mentioned, is that a lot of brands in the U.S. they expand in the U.S. and they get big in the U.S. before they go internationally because the market is so big that you can have whatever hundreds or 220 years before you bother going to Japan or the Middle east or wherever. But Tory made that decision very early on. We've been in the Middle east since 2012, and the brand was created in 2004. So that's quite early in the development of the brand. And it really, I think, has helped, really understanding and bringing into the way we are doing things the global culture and diversity of the world. Then obviously there's always something where. And we worked a lot with our local team and our philosophy is that you don't change the essence of who you are and the brands you are and what you stand for, but you translate it into the local culture. Obviously the local language, but the local culture. So you don't change the essence of it or the meaning of it, because otherwise you become a different brands in different regions and different parts of the world, but you adjust for it. But it's a very interesting.

[Imran Ahmed]

But how do you do that? Right? Because I think one of the things I've seen is brands parachute an American or European executive into these regions and all the decision making is this kind of conversation between the Western leader in New York or Paris or Milan and then the kind of transplanted Westerner in the local market. How do you make it so that the people here have the power to have input into the decision making?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

I mean, first here we work with the best partner that we can.

[Tory Burch]

That we could ever hope to have.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

I mean, they build, as, you know, luxury and fashion in this part of the world. So, I mean, they have more insight than anyone else in the industry, by the way, even and any partner in the world. So we listen to them and we work with them.

[Imran Ahmed]

So a good local partner.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

So when. So when we have a partner which is, you know, in certain parts of the world, when we think it's, you know, we really need to work with someone and there's really a partnership when we operate directly, you know, we work with people that really understand the culture. I mean, I'm not American and I work in New York and I'm French. So we have a lot of different culture and people that really. But what is interesting is that when you see a bestseller, for example, is usually a bestseller everywhere in the world when it comes to accessories in particular and footwear, which is sometimes intriguing because, you know, it's a. But then when you go to just the level underneath, which is, you know, not the top bestseller, but underneath, then you start seeing some differences by colors, by size. Obviously, we work a lot also on the. On the fit, you mean. You talked about the seasonality, but the fit is very important because obviously we know that there's a lot of diversity.

[Imran Ahmed]

So you're adapting shapes and silhouettes different ways.

[Tory Burch]

I mean, we do have different fits. It seems so superficial to hear, let's just transplant a Westerner into a market. And that's just the opposite of how we look at things. We have incredible teams that partner with the people on the ground. And also I'm involved. I want to know, because I'm doing all the product. I mean, it's so exciting to see the opportunities here and meeting with customers. Yesterday, hearing from Shalhoub, our team, but also having a great team, team that has that intellectual curiosity that is critical to really not make it superficial and make it very meaningful.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah.

We'll be right back with more on the BoF podcast.

[Unknown]

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[Imran Ahmed]

The kind of elephant in the room in fashion right now is around this announcement around tariffs which has really thrown the whole fashion world into a complete state of uncertainty and shock. I think people were still reeling about it. I mean Tory, you and and your business, you started a made in China thing early on in your. It was part of the strategy, right? It was about how to get really good quality merchandise delivered out of value because part of what the value proposition of Tory Burch has always been that it's not necessarily like these insane prices of some of the luxury brand Pieri from an operational perspective. I'm so interested to get into your mind around this because how are you thinking about how a company should navigate this right now? When there's so much uncertainty, you don't know what's going to happen. Potentially, your sourcing strategies all need to change. Someone on our team, Ruan, was talking to me about Dubai potentially being an interesting hub where people could ship stuff because apparently tariffs only apply based on where the product is coming from. So we might see the rise of these other hubs. What is the operational supply chain side of your brain thinking about in terms of how to navigate this uncertainty?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

First, it's hard to comment on the. Because it's changing every. Every half an hour. There's not much that we can comment on this, but I would just, you know, you said, you know, the initial strategy of story was not manufactured mainly in China. It was not that, you know, and by the way, the main China for us is a very, very, very.

[Imran Ahmed]

Is it small now?

[Tory Burch]

It's less than 6%.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

It's really about finding.

[Imran Ahmed]

So where is it made now?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

So it's in a lot of different places. Well, what we're. The way we're looking at it is to get the best craft that we want craft, and also the ability to embrace the innovation that, you know, Torre has been bringing, having agility also in the way we work in different place in the world. And, you know, there's a lot of very interesting. And we work in Brazil, for example, in India, in different places in Europe.

[Tory Burch]

Eastern Europe and Turkey.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

We have a global sourcing that really is specific to where we find the right skill set for the type of product that we do. We do multiple categories because we have handbags, we have footwear, we have jewelry, we have ready to wear, we have home, we have a home collection. And even when you take footwear, there's a lot of different types of footwear between the sneakers and the sandal and the high heel. So you don't find the skills to be able to source that in just one place. So our strategy is really finding all those global sourcing. The only thing that I can say is that this takes years to build. And when you manage a business, you cannot change it like you know, every other day or even every six months. It takes years to build the proper sourcing and the partnership with, you know, suppliers that really understand and work with you. And obviously you evolve it as you go, you know, and. But you cannot change it overnight.

[Imran Ahmed]

I mean, and that's clear. And so leaving aside China for a minute, if you have sourcing in all of these different countries, I mean, everybody saw the list of countries and it's on pause for 90 days and who knows what's going to happen? Like how are you thinking about that in terms of. I know it's. You can't make a prediction, but what do you advise people to do in terms of like, if you can't change your sourcing overnight, if it's something that takes a long time to build, what do you do? Do you manage it from like absorbing some of the increased costs from the tariffs in your margin? Do you pass it on to customers? Like, how do you get through that?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

I don't advising any longer. I used to advise people when I was at McKinsey now. So we're really focusing on our business and we'll see and depending on what will happen, we'll do whatever we feel is the right thing. The product is critical for us. So we don't want to compromise in any way on the quality of the product and then we'll deal with it. I mean we have not much that we can do. Politicians would decide whatever they do, we'll see when things would be real. In the meantime, you know, we're not going to go left and right depending on the announcement of the day. Try to be blunt on this one.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah, I mean, I understand. It's just so complicated at the moment navigating a situation like this because you know, even for our team, you know, they're like, do we have to change the story we just wrote an hour ago?

[Tory Burch]

Because I do feel grace under pressure is very important right now. And I think being an entrepreneur you have things, I mean obviously this is unique and different but you have things coming at you all the time. And so you have to be calm, you have to not overreact over. Correct. Because it's an iterative process that's happening and we just don't. No one knows. I don't even think people in the very close circles know.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

Yeah, we had Covid, you know, 350store closed for three months with no visibility as a private company. I can tell you it's just a bit. You just continue to and then you know the crisis is going to be over at one point.

[Tory Burch]

You do what you can do.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah, this feels like it might be a four year crisis though. And there's no vaccine that's going to get us out of it. We were looking at some growth stats yesterday around what's happening in Western Europe, what's happening in China, what's happening in the US which we just discussed. What does that do for the way the two of you think about where you look for growth as a Company like where are you focus? You're obviously here in Dubai. You haven't been here for a while. What are you thinking about? And I know you planned this trip far before.

[Tory Burch]

Let's start with this, Imran. Because I've always wanted to be the most exceptional company, not necessarily the biggest company. So for me, looking at the idea of rethinking a company, transforming it, that's something that been happening over the last five years. I think we've done a pretty good job of doing that carefully where we haven't just become someone different and we haven't alienated our core customers. But I like to think of it as refining what we do and keep building on that. And so I know that you have probably a different answer on that. But we talk about it all the time. I don't want to have growth for growth's sake. I want it to be meaningful and have a long term perspective on the health of the business.

[Imran Ahmed]

Carrie?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

No, but we are a private company, control the company. So we can really decide the pace at which we grow. The company was profitable in year two and it's been since then self financing its own development. So we found our own development so we don't have to rely on any other source of funding and we can really decide the pace at which we grow. And I think this has been very important in a lot of decision that Terry has taken over the years. In terms of distribution, for example, you know, the store, the store size, the number of stores, you know, it's really being a curated development. But we have tremendous opportunities because it's even in the US The US is a big market for us, but it's a, it's a gigantic market. We have a lot of growth. I mean this region is very exciting. You know, we just, you know, as I mentioned, we just reopened and our Dubai Mall store, which is a store that we had. But we brought our new concept, which is a concept that Tory has been working during COVID and that we came up in 21.

[Imran Ahmed]

I think that's the one I went to visit in New York because you.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

Told me to go visit.

[Imran Ahmed]

Right.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

Which we have continued to evolve.

[Tory Burch]

We just opened la, which is a bit different.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

We just opened in the last two weeks we've opened LA on Rodeo Drive, which is a store that we had. We've been redoing it and we opened Shanghai in Cary center, which is a store that we had that we've been redoing after 10 years. So, you know, it's not about opening a lot of Stores, it's also taking the store that we have that are great, you know, and one of the best location. And after 10 years, you know, or eight years or six years, you need to bring, you know, new and freshness as part of the evolution of the brand. It's more about, you know, being focused and really going after things that we really want because the opportunities are tremendous. I mean, we can do, you know, so many things in all the categories that we have. There's, you know, potential to grow in all those countries. If you just look in the, in the. Because here we're talking about the south, you know, the global south, the development that we have obviously in here in the Middle East. But also we're opening a third store in India, in Bangalore in three months. We already have a, you know, two store there. But there are countries like Indonesia. We have eight stores in Indonesia. Incredible, you know, countries. 300 million people, a very big up and coming middle class that is discovering luxury. And we're an incredible brand because they're really discovering luxury with us. We are selling actually bags, for example, in Indonesia at a very high price in our pricing architecture. But they're not going to buy a bag at $10,000. So we're offering great and incredible value for, for those customers. But we see that in, you know, in Thailand. We see that in, in a lot of those countries and the same obviously in the U.S. and so, so we are in that very sweet spot obviously of being very unique as a brand. And we started with that, with the purpose, the aesthetic, you know, Tory being at the helm of the brand. But also, you know, we talked a bit about the pricing. The value that we're offering to the customer is incredible. And we see a lot of customer that are trading up, you know, for a brand that they feel is not as qualitative, don't offer, you know, as much innovation. So we're getting customer that are elevating, but we're also getting a lot of customers that were kind of in and out in buying high end luxury. And if you all know, you know, when the sneakers were at 700 was fine, when it's 1300, it's a different story when the bag is at 5000.

[Imran Ahmed]

I mean, it seems to me like this is a really great moment for brands like Tory Burch because there's such a broken sense of the value proposition with customers. Like, they just look at those prices and they just look. It doesn't make sense. I could talk to you guys forever. We're already five minutes over, but I do want to ask each of you for. I know you don't advise people, but maybe you could give some advice, which is there's a lot of business builders here, entrepreneurs who are at the early stage of their journeys and trying to build their own businesses. What's one piece of advice you have? I'll start with you, Pierre. What's one piece of advice for someone building something new? How do you create something with longevity and authenticity?

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

I mean, I just have to look at Tori. I'm not an entrepreneur. I mean, I've managed big businesses, but, you know, now I'm partnering, you know, with Tori. I think you always look at the positives and you always look at the, the glass half full. And as an entrepreneur, you have to look at the opportunity and you have to have an incredible drive. And when I say Toresh, he's always putting. She always see the opportunity and she has the drive through, you know, ups and downs. And obviously you have to have the vision, you have to have all these other things. But I think the personality and the character is what makes a huge difference. And so I just have to look at her and then I see.

[Imran Ahmed]

You know what, that's a really good answer, Tori.

[Tory Burch]

I would just say don't let people put you in a box because I think that there's the tendency to do that. People like to label you, put you in a certain place and I think write your own story.

[Imran Ahmed]

Okay. I am so grateful to both of you for joining us at BUF Crossroads. Enjoy the rest of your time in the region. I'm sure it's going to be really fun.

[Tory Burch]

I'll just say also being in this region was so inspiring and really talking to people. I've never been to a place where more people absolutely love living here, like authentically through and through. It's really wonderful to see.

[Imran Ahmed]

Yeah, it's. It's kind of infectious too.

[Tory Burch]

Yeah.

[Imran Ahmed]

Well, anyway, thank you so much.

[Pierre Yves Roussel]

Thank you.

[Imran Ahmed]

The BoF podcast is edited and produced by Olivia Davies and Eric Brea.

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