NEW YORK — From a linen and leather pant to a macrame tweed skirt, Tory Burch looked to one of the most important fashion icons of the 20th century for inspiration at New York Fashion Week: Princess Diana.
At Sunday’s show held at the Brooklyn Museum, Burch said she made sure “to be careful not to be too literal, because she’s clearly a style icon but that’s not what was so interesting to me.”
What was interesting, she said, was Diana’s humanitarian work, “her fearlessness, her being a mom that protected her family and just how strong of a woman she was.” Burch said she tried to capture that strength and style in outfits that included linen dresses with rope sashes, a wool sweater with a sequined collar and a silk twill skirt.
And, bonus, she put sneakers on her models with a range of looks in her spring-summer 2020 collection.
Diana, divorced from Prince Charles and the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, died in a 1997 car crash in Paris that also killed her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, and the car’s driver.
Model Karolina Kurkova, who sat in the front row, said she was excited about the collection.
“I think every girl growing up wants to be a princess. It was my dream, too, to be a princess,” she said. “I mean, I do of course follow the royal family, and it’s good to see how they’re doing. And Princess Diana, she was very special.”
Other guests spoke of how much they admired Burch’s esthetic and message. Burch said in her show notes that the collection brings together English garden florals, a restrained volume and her own take on the 1980s.
Writer-director and transgender rights activist Janet Mock said that to her, Burch is about “empowerment and ambition.”
“For me, I just love clothes and I think that her clothes are actually wearable and they’re accessible,” she said.
Actress Alexandra Daddario said she was excited that Burch’s show was her first experience at fashion week.
“I love Tory Burch. I’ve been wearing Tory Burch for years,” she said. “I’m from New York. I feel like it’s great New York street fashion. It’s a really cool way to kick things off.”