Brand Worship & Tory Burch

I just read this great article in the NY Times about Tory Burch -- the brand and the woman -- and am left feeling a bit conflicted.

As a marketing/communications professional/"nerd" (for lack of a better term), I am especially susceptible to brand messaging, and really do try to support companies whose philosophies, partnerships, messaging I believe to be in line with my own lifestyle, interests, and beliefs.

Take Red Bull, for instance. I am not necessarily a fan of their products - super sugary drinks have never really been my thing (well, except for my Mountain Dew obsession in college). But, I will support the brand in any way I can because I LOVE what they do. Formula 1 team? Check. Sponsorships for some of the best action sports athletes in the world? Check! Awesome support of action sports/motorsports while rebranding and exposing them to the general public? Check, check, check. They can't do much wrong in my eyes, and I think other supporters of the brand feel the same.

Back to Tory Burch:
I have never really been a fan of fashion/retail brands that paste their logo prominently or on every inch of their products. Coach in the early 2000s was absolutely atrocious. Even Chanel can be a bit liberal with the display of their interlocked Cs, and they are a legit luxury brand. This is why I've always been a bit put off by Tory Burch (the brand), and the people who purchase their logo-laden shoes and purses.

Once, when I was in the elevator at the office when I was working in DC, one of my colleagues looked down at the other's feet and exclaimed: "Oh my god. I LOVE your shoes." Being the nosy person I am, I looked down to see these fantastic shoes. Now, this is not a joke or even embellished in any way: they were regular black FLIP-FLOPS with a small, golden Tory Burch logo on the strap. That's it - black flip-flops. I, personally, did not see what was so OMG about them but didn't find them offensive or distasteful, either. They were just... flip-flops.

That moment is precisely when I decided I would never purchase any Tory Burch products, no matter how beautiful a purse, or how silky a caftan might be. I could not be associated with the vapid and airheaded brand-worshipping that I had witnessed. What was so special about that logo on those basic, bland, vanilla flip-flops?

The aforementioned flip-flops.

Having now read about Tory Burch (the woman) and her business drive, I have been somewhat converted. You can tell a lot about a person by how he/she projects him/herself to the world, and how those who are close to them describe their personality. Some of these quotes from the NY Times article stuck out to me in particular. On her love life:

“She is so much her own person without apology. She finds the same thing in other people.”

Many of the other personal quotes say very much the same things. 

“She has the ability to be very rational.... It has allowed her not to get trapped by herself, by her own emotions and shortcomings.”

I think that stands as a testament to her, as a woman, an entrepreneur, and a brand; and I try to live in such a way that people would say the same things about myself. Knowing that she is an intelligent woman, who wants to support the intelligence and drive of other female entrepreneurs and businesswomen, has made me want to go out and buy those beautiful Tory Burch riding boots and purse I've been looking at in secret. But I'll never buy those damn flip-flops.