All year, whispers of the “new Tory” have floated around in fashion’s inner circles. Is it a new creative director? A designer poached from another top house? But the answer to what many are calling the Toryssance is much simpler: Installing a business lead has allowed Tory Burch herself to devote more of her creativity to the design side of the business, and what’s emerging is some of the most exciting material in American fashion right now. Nominated for Womenswear Designer of the Year by CFDA and identified as one of Lyst’s Breakout Brands, Tory Burch’s recent rise has been nothing short of meteoric.
With a sleek new runway aesthetic defined by modern tailoring, traditional construction, and discreet logos, the brand is resonating with a younger Gen Z demographic. Burch has managed what many established brands can only ever dream of. She has captured a new audience without alienating the original customers. Take the ballet flats, for instance, which have long been an iconic piece of the Tory Burch world. The OG fans are still shopping for the same beloved logo flats, but now, a new crowd is after the studded and pierced flats from the most recent seasons.
In its report on Q3 2023, Lyst not only named Tory Burch as a rising brand to watch with a 15% spike in searches for the quarter, but also narrowed in on the one item largely responsible for all the newfound hype: its pierced mules, which made the top-10 list of the hottest products, alongside heavy-hitters like Miu Miu and Loewe. For those uninitiated in the language of “new Tory”, the mules are part of a series of shoes that all have the same notorious hardware which gives off the illusion that the shoe is pierced with a segment ring near the toe.
The first of these pierced shoes came in the form of slingback flats and flat mules and they debuted on the spring/summer 2023 runway, the collection that’s widely regarded as marking the beginning of Burch’s new aesthetic. Since then, a pair of slingback pumps have joined the ranks and the latest update is anticipated in the spring 2024 lineup to be launching in the coming months. Already, fashion insiders are clamoring to get their hands on a pair—at least two Who What Wear editors already have—and making what’s left of the first pairs nearly sell out.
With the forthcoming 2024 iterations, it seems like the perfect time to highlight the It style because it’s clearly only growing in interest and attention. Ahead, we’ve charted the course of the Tory Burch pierced shoes from their runway debuts to the current-season market. Discover fashion’s most-wanted footwear of the moment, and then shop the pairs that are magically still available (for now, that is).
Point-toe slingbacks in bright scarlet and closed-toe mules in rich mahogany were among the first iterations of Tory Burch pierced shoes to arrive. They debuted on the spring/summer 2023 runway where they were styled with gauzy sheer skirts and retro capri leggings.
This past September, Burch introduced the next chapter of the pierced-shoe theme in the spring/summer 2024 collection. This time, the sculptural hardware was affixed to modern Mary Jane-like flats, cementing the motif as a style signature of Tory Burch’s new era.
