Tory Burch

Tory Burch is an American women's fashion label founded by designer Tory Burch in Manhattan in February 2004 [4]. Known first for handbags, shoes and ready-to-wear, the company entered beauty in 2013 with a licensed fragrance line, which is the part of its business relevant to fragrance retail. It remains an active, global brand, with new scents released as recently as 2024.

The fragrance operation has always run under an external license rather than in-house. It began with The Estée Lauder Companies and moved to Shiseido at the start of 2020, and it is through this licensed line that Tory Burch appears in perfume distribution.

Tory Burch launched her label in Manhattan's Nolita district in 2004 [4]. According to the account carried by Wikipedia, the debut inventory sold out on its first day, and an endorsement from Oprah Winfrey in April 2005 drove roughly eight million hits to the website the following day [4]. The label built its early reputation on accessories, winning the Fashion Group International Rising Star Award in 2005 and the CFDA's Accessories Designer of the Year in 2008 [4].

The company positions itself, in a trade description from the period of its first fragrance deal, as "a luxury yet attainable lifestyle brand defined by classic American sportswear," created to offer a "designer aesthetic at a more accessible price point" [5].

Tory Burch's beauty and fragrance business has been handled by licensing partners rather than produced in-house. In October 2011 the Aramis and Designer Fragrances division of The Estée Lauder Companies signed an exclusive worldwide license for the fragrance line, with the first products expected in 2013 [5]. That arrangement held until the end of the decade.

In August 2019 the company announced a long-term partnership with Shiseido to develop, market and distribute Tory Burch beauty, effective January 2020 [4]. Shiseido is the current license holder; The Estée Lauder Companies held the license during the original 2011–2019 period [4][5]. Under Shiseido, the fragrance portfolio has continued to expand.

Tory Burch frames fragrance as an extension of its wider lifestyle brand. At the launch of its first scent, the founder described fragrance as "a natural extension of our brand" meant to "complement a woman's innate beauty," adding that it evoked memories of her mother and grandmother [5]. The brand summarizes the intended character of both its fragrance and fashion design in three words: "confident, sensual, and strong" [6].

Separately, the company runs the Tory Burch Foundation, which it says works to increase "women's economic power by supporting entrepreneurs to build businesses that last."

The first Tory Burch perfume, an eau de parfum, reached the market in September 2013, developed under the Estée Lauder license [7]. Later releases include Bel Azur (2017) [8], the five-fragrance Essence of Dreams collection launched with Shiseido in 2022 [4], and Sublime, an eau de parfum introduced in 2024 with a campaign fronted by Kendall Jenner [4]. Recurring notes across the line include mandarin, vetiver, rose, osmanthus and leather [6].

Beyond its early accessories awards, the brand and its founder have drawn continued press. Harper's Bazaar named Tory Burch its Designer of the Year in 2023, and in 2024 the company appeared on Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential Companies [4].

Tory Burch is an active, globally distributed fashion house whose licensed fragrance line remains in ongoing development under Shiseido. Its most recent visible fragrance activity was the 2024 launch of Sublime, with refill bottles reported as planned for 2025 [6].