In a lively Saturday morning conversation at the Vogue Café in SoHo, designer and founder Tory Burch sat down with Nicole Phelps for a live recording of The Run-Through, touching on everything from Met Gala prep to the personal philosophy that built her empire.

“When you look at a painting or a sculpture, it’s how it makes you feel,” Burch said. “Every collection I’ve ever done references some kind of painting or color or period of art.”

Burch shared stories of her extraordinary rise from a single storefront on Elizabeth Street in Nolita (chosen, she explained with a laugh, because “the rent was cheap”) to 400 stores worldwide. She also spoke candidly about navigating a very public divorce, the 2008 financial crisis, and the devastating toll of the pandemic, including losing a longtime colleague to COVID. Through all of it, she leaned on transparency as her guiding principle. “What people need is just honesty,” she said.

Burch also spoke about the Tory Burch Foundation, which she launched in 2009 to support women entrepreneurs with mentorship, community, and access to capital—a mission she said was central to starting her company in the first place. The foundation’s borrowers, she said, repay their loans at a 98% rate: proof that “women are a great investment.”

For young people hoping to break into fashion, she borrowed advice she got from her parents: “Negativity is noise. Thicken your skin.” And above all, she urged, believe in the power you already have. “Women have the power,” she said. “We’re not bestowing power upon anyone. You all have it within you.”

Plus: Anok Yai is British Vogue’s cover star!