Tory Burch

After being hailed by Oprah as “the next big thing in fashion,” and after successfully launching her line in high-end department stores and opening her first three stores in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta, Tory Burch swept into Dallas in spring 2006 with a store in Highland Park Village. She retained Brynn Bagot Public Relations to handle public relations, media relations and her grand opening splash.

The Project

To increase pre-opening publicity, BBPR mailed out press kits in addition to personally delivering a number of the kits in Tory Burch totes to select media. The bags were a hit, and everyone was pumped about the brand and the opening. Throughout the day of the event, BBPR coordinated media interviews and photo opps with Tory and her models.

 BBPR created special invitations and delivered to a “Who’s Who” in Dallas society and fashion. We coordinated every detail from special floral motifs to using Tory’s signature orange in lieu of the traditional red carpet. We arranged for tenting in the event of bad weather. During the event, we guided media through the crowded store to meet Tory and hired an event photographer to make sure we obtained photos of key guests.

The Results

TV segments included: WFAA-ABCs “Good Morning Texas,” CW33’s “Trendy Tuesday”, as well as CBS and UPN. Pre- and post-event print coverage included: The Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, DailyCandy, Lucky, Modern Luxury, PaperCity, People Newspapers, Social Whirl, and F!D Luxe. All the key fashion and society-beat media attended.

The guest count and sales for the evening far exceeded expectations. Combined with the media coverage and great word-of-mouth surrounding the opening and the event, the store opened to the highest grand opening sales of all Tory Burch stores. The store is consistently one of the highest revenue generators for the Tory Burch brand, and Tory praised the Dallas launch PR and stated the opening was one of the most exciting and successful of any she’s attended. 

Fun Fact

The Tory Burch store opened a few days before the official grand opening event, and most of the merchandise sold out the day before to party guests who wanted to be sure they were decked in Tory’s designs from head to toe for the opening party and to meet the designer.