Review of Tory Burch Fall 2023 Fashion Show
Individual Beauty
By Obi Anyanwu
The lore surrounding the Venus de Milo sculpture at The Louvre in Paris spans multiple countries and many centuries too. The ancient Greek work is one of the oldest artworks, dating to sometime between 150 and 125 B.C., and it is believed to depict the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, known as Venus in Rome.
There are more questions surrounding the work than there is concrete information. For instance, some scholars theorized that the statue is of Amphitrite, a Greek sea goddess. The work was originally credited to Athenian sculptor Praxiteles but later agreed to be by the hands of Alexandros of Antioch. The work changed hands from the Greek to the French, and ironically, the lack of hands and arms is still a mystery. Were they destroyed in battle? Did the artist fail to put arms on?
Needless to say, Venus de Milo is a symbol of beauty and femininity across centuries, and an unintentional avant-garde take at that.
I wanted to challenge the idea of femininity and perfection and think about how women don’t want rules.
– Tory Burch
Burch explained her inspiration to The Impression backstage after the show and what better representation than Venus de Milo?
This is the starting point for the Tory Burch Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Burch wanted to challenge those perceptions of beauty and femininity by breaking down the wardrobe to rebuild it with an undone attitude.
The designer teamed with Alexandre de Betak to produce the runway show in New York City’s Financial District in a venue that resembled the Louvre—you gotta love old New York City interior design and architecture—with projections of Venus de Milo on pillars and stars on the windows. Before and after the show, the statue projections would ripple and become a puddle and stand anew; Burch explained she wanted to experiment with distortion in this collection. Exposing shapewear, and using unusually vibrant colors throughout the collection.
Hosting the show in such a unique venue hearkened to an old New York City recovering from the recession in the 70’s, reminding one of women’s roles in that era and how the mold had been broken so many times over the decades that the work and evening attire in the collection are not to be delegated to those occasions.
Burch explained she wanted to experiment with distortion in this collection.
Burch explained that the collection is about confidence, women aren’t interested in rules and every piece is individualized. Symbols of beauty on their own, much like the ‘imperfect’ Venus de Milo statue that has been perfect just the way it is for over two millennia.