On Wednesday night, Tory Burch opened her fall 2026 collection presentation at Sotheby’s Breuer Building with a simple question: What endures? Confronted with a moment of widespread uncertainty, the designer turned to something concrete: her father’s corduroy trousers.
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| 👔 Brand: Tory Burch 🧵 Creative Direction: Tory Burch 🗓 Season: Fall 2026 📍 Location: Sotheby’s Breuer Building 👖 Core reference: Her father’s wide-wale corduroy trousers 🌿 Major inspiration: Bunny Mellon’s understated mid-century elegance 🧵 Craft highlight: Gold badla embroidery by Indian artisans 🧥 Statement outerwear: Metallic landscape jacquard cocoon coats 🎀 Key motif: The “Bunny Knot” inspired by Mellon’s Antigua house 👠 Strong category: Embellished ankle-strap pumps and woven leather belts 🔄 Strategic shift: Return to Burch’s personal design perspective |
Wide-wale corduroys appeared twice on the runway, intentionally slouchy and paired with crewneck sweaters over round-collar button-ups. Sleeves pushed to the elbows suggested someone ready to work rather than pose. The pants came in apricot and saffron, colors that felt deliberate yet not fussy.
Backstage, Burch told guests she had been reconsidering garments pulled from history and examining how they are reinterpreted through successive generations. Her solution was to take familiar archetypes and push them toward something more individualized. Pamela Anderson, Tessa Thompson, and Amanda Seyfried watched from the audience as models walked past in color-blocked looks reflecting how Burch sees women dressing today – by instinct rather than by prescribed rules.
The collection drew heavily from Bunny Mellon, the landscape designer who created the White House Rose Garden for Jackie Kennedy and formerly owned Burch’s Antigua estate. Mellon represented a certain mid-century elegance rooted in quiet confidence rather than ostentation. Before the show, Burch contacted Mellon’s grandson to explain that she wanted to honor a woman whose style deserved more recognition.
Burch has long demonstrated her ability to transform basic garments with unexpected embellishments. Gold threadwork badla embroidery, hand-executed by Indian artisans, appeared on otherwise ordinary wool Shetland cardigans. Metallic-shot landscape jacquards formed cocoon-like coats with a sumptuous weight and drape. The woven leather belt, featured throughout the collection, could become a phenomenon in its own right.
Shirtwaist dresses arrived with bows at the neck and enough room to move freely – practical enough for gardening. Stonewashed silk shifts with Bakelite-looking hip belts channeled an earlier era entirely. Then came the deconstructed drop-waist dresses, reinterpreted from the delicate versions of spring into tougher, four-ply, washed silk numbers with twisted pleats and deconstruction. They felt pretty without being precious and cool without trying too hard.
Ten years ago, Burch purchased and restored Mellon’s Antigua house. The knotted cushions found in the basement became a recurring motif throughout the collection. The Bunny Knot appeared on quilted bags named in Mellon’s honor, as well as on nubby raffia details woven into chunky navy sweaters and exploded hardware on shoes that reminded Burch of the pilgrim footwear she had long wanted to design.
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Silver fish pins and pendant necklaces added playful touches. Woven raffia and leather basket bags referenced what Burch and her friends in high school called “Deadhead” bags. Embellished ankle-strap pumps continued the successful footwear category for the brand.
Near the end of the show, fine-gauge, nearly sheer ribbed knits pulled the collection back to the present moment. Burch explained that, after restructuring her business six years ago, she now approaches design from a vantage point closer to the brand’s origins and her personal perspective. She admitted that, although the company had thrived, it had failed to reflect her individual point of view. This collection represented a shift toward how she actually sees women.
