Tory Burch and the creation of a viral fashion hit

When the entire front row at New York Fashion Week is wearing the same shoes, you know you have a hit style.

On September 9, Jodie Turner-Smith, Mindy Kaling, Elizabeth Olsen, Michelle Williams and countless other lesser-known faces showed up at Brooklyn's newly aquamarine-tiled penthouse event space in the old Domino Sugar Factory to watch Tory Burch's latest runway show—all wearing the Pierced Mule. It was the same shoe, just a different font. Tuner-Smith wore a pierced high-heeled pump in rich hazel. Kaling showed up in the chocolate brown version and Williams wore white. And that's not even counting the slanted wedge and square-toe version, the Coconut slingbacks with silver hardware and several pierced colorways spotted one, two and three rows back.

This was no ordinary PR stunt. If VIPs in coordinated outfits are already a publicity coup, what is a room full of women who all went through their closets that morning and chose the same shoes? A real viral sensation, that's what it is.

Debuting as part of Tory Burch's spring/summer 2023 collection, the pierced mule was an instant must-have among fashion editors and designers. But it wasn't until Lyst reported that searches for the brand had increased 15 percent this quarter and spotlighted the pierced mules on its list of “hottest products of Q3” that it was clear everyone wanted a piece of the shoe. Identifying a fashion phenomenon is one thing, but codifying exactly why it resonates is another. What's so appealing about the pointy end and nose-ring-like toe piercing? Maybe it's the sheer eccentricity of an edgy punk detail paired with a ladylike silhouette. Maybe, as Mindy Kaling puts it, we all just want to wear jewelry on our feet.

“I love jewelry in unexpected places and I feel like I'm wearing a beautiful piece of jewelry in a place where we don't always see it,” Kaling said Monday from the front row, just before the brand's fashion show began. “And I like to take up space, so I love these shoes.” The sex life of college girls The creator also cites quality, craftsmanship and a touch of the unexpected as ingredients in Burch's secret recipe.

The wow factor of the pierced mules exemplifies a “makes you look” element present in many of Burch's best designs. “I wanted you to look at things and think of one thing, but then look closer and think of something else,” the designer explains, pointing to her favorite looks backstage after her show. In her Spring/Summer 2025 collection, Burch introduced two new prints that seem almost conventional at first glance – a flame-motif jacquard and an abstract grayscale print – but are actually quite psychedelic up close.

The former, seen on a lusciously oversized spring coat and cool pants over a glittery swimsuit (more on that later), is a manipulated representation of swimmers, says Burch. The latter pattern, seen on a silk-viscose skirt with a moldable waist, reads like a nod to snakeskin but hides “goblins and witches” in its swirls. Burch's sense of humor often finds expression in pattern. The designer debuted a delightfully wacky cat-themed collection in August, applying a blown-up cat pattern (shot by photographer Walter Schels) to tops, skirts, handbags and more.

Her latest collection, a deliberately non-athletic take on gym uniforms, embodies that attention-seeking ethos more than any other. It was presented in a revamped space designed to feel like sitting on the floor of a public swimming pool. A lifeguard's whistle ushered in the procession of movement-inspired garments that streamed down the runway on the backs of It girls like Paloma Elsesser, Irina Shayk and Alexa Chung. See the swimsuit and judo pants in Look 24? That's a sequined nylon bodysuit and luxe pants. Think you know where that gorgeous dress with the mesh panels is going? Think again, because believe it or not, it was inspired by the likes of Travis Kelce.

Burch skillfully manages to oscillate between inside joke and inspiration without being too obvious with her references. Her latest work is more a cheeky inversion of athleisure – clothes that look gym-ready from afar but event-ready up close – than a true sports collection. “This [pieces] were inspired by football jerseys and rugby shirts,” explains Burch, pointing to a plum-colored sequined shirt dress that no one would mistake for a linebacker's gear. “You know, it's such a slight reference that I didn't want to take it literally.” Her inspiration notes for Spring/Summer 2025 sum it up best: “This collection started with the true essence of sport: power and grace, precision and movement.”

In case you didn't notice when you first browsed the collection, there's also a new perforated bag, a design that Burch says took nearly two years to develop. “I wanted the simple shape of the mule,” she says. “In fact, with the perforated bag, you can more easily remove the charm—and replace it with gold or silver.” The resulting design, an asymmetrical, half-moon bag with a gold perforated pattern on polished leather, offers a sophisticated take on the bag charm trend by Tory Burch and a whole new category for the viral perforated style.

The pierced motif is becoming a fashion signature that is almost as recognizable as the double-T logo. Rather than the brash branding, signature monograms and logomania that some luxury houses favor, Burch has recently been more inspired by the idea of ​​her own design brands. “The pierced motif is definitely one of them,” she says when asked what she sees as the next generation of Tory Burch's design codes. “I think it's a new code for us.”

Of course, this isn't the only (or even first) viral hit to come from the mind of Tory Burch. The fashion founder has an eye for shape and an intuitive sense of what's just short of avant-garde, so her clothes remain wearable yet always interesting to look at. A jersey mini with a flowing crinoline that debuted on Emily Ratajkowski in last spring's collection took the world by storm. A ballet pink colorway was particularly coveted, seen on Hailey Bieber and Selena Gomez, among others, as well as influencer Alix Earle, who opted for the black version with mesh inserts.

Brazilian actress Bruna Marquezine, who sat front row alongside KiKi Layne, Kilo Kish and Ivy Getty to watch the fashion show yesterday, wore a midi version of the crinoline. She cited not only the shape but also the feeling the dress made her feel as its real appeal. “I feel great in this dress tonight,” she says, smiling at the hem of her crinoline. “I don't know how to express it, but I feel like a lot of it has to do with [Tory Burch’s] Essence – the way she approaches things, the feelings her clothes evoke in you.”

In addition to form and humor, Burch's eclectic mix of references and deep knowledge of fashion history contribute to the consistency of her work. She understands the importance of heritage and often pays tribute to it in her work. “I always go back to the Claire McCardell collection, which [debuted] in spring 2021,” says Jalil Johnson, author of the Consider yourself cultured Newsletter. “It was truly an ode to a genius in American history.”

Tory Burch also has a sense of what the mood in the room is like. That triumphant post-pandemic return—the aforementioned, much-publicized collection of monastic dresses by Claire McCardell, shown at an open-air market in New York City—provided a much-needed breath of fresh air (literally) in a stagnant industry that has been stifled and is still recovering from lockdowns.

Her Spring/Summer 2025 collection also seems to come at the right time. Whether the designer consciously takes the zeitgeist into account when creating her collection or not, there's no denying that a sports-inspired collection shown against the backdrop of an Olympic pool (complete with athlete-worthy swimming silhouettes, uniform motifs, and slicked-back wet hair) is particularly well-received just weeks after the Paris Games, while TikTok's obsession with vintage sports jerseys and blokecore remains at an all-time high.

So what's Tory Burch's next big viral hit? I'm betting on the twisted heel, an unusual take on the classic peep-toe for spring. “The twisted ballet became really interesting when we twisted the heel,” says Burch. “And if you look at the whole foot, it's twisted.” Another candidate: Burch's new sculptural skirt with an adjustable waist. “You can shape the waist so it floats away from the body. Or it can be folded down,” she says, calling the style the one all the models in the show preferred.

And then there's the Reva. Arguably the designer's first (and perhaps biggest) hit, the Reva Flat, a ballerina shoe named after Burch's mother, made a triumphant comeback on the runway this season alongside linen pants and a sparkly swimsuit. With ballerina fever still raging in the fashion world and the boho revival just around the corner, this is an inspired move to bring back the beloved style, albeit a somewhat predictable one.

But like all of Tory Burch's best designs, the shoe was an unexpected success when it debuted. The Reva's namesake was in attendance at the show herself and provided a beautiful quote that Burch cites in the Spring/Summer 2025 collection notes: “'I never thought I'd be famous for a shoe,' my mother Reva said when our ballet flats debuted in 2006. Now they're back; I love you, Mom.”