The Tory Burch "Walk The Walk" Campaign: Embracing Ambition to Empower Women and Entrepreneurs
The Tory Burch “Walk the Walk” campaign for Spring/Summer 2020 was launched last March, coinciding with International Women’s Day on March 8 and Women’s History Month. The campaign brings together the new collection and the brand’s overarching message of women’s empowerment, distilled in Tory Burch’s signature call to action, #EmbraceAmbition.
The new campaign builds on the Tory Burch Foundation’s Embrace Ambition global initiative, launched in 2017, and features powerful images of Natalia Vodianova and Anok Yai, as well as video of them with Tory, walking and talking about the importance of embracing ambition. Natalia says, “To me, ambition has to have purpose...” while Anok notes that “Your character is how you treat someone [who] can do nothing for you.” Tory sums up her personal philosophy and the deep sense of purpose that drives her: “Embracing ambition means empowering other women.”
“I wanted to design beautiful products that didn’t cost a fortune to help women feel beautiful and confident—this concept and starting a foundation for women was part of the original business plan. After we launched our Foundation in 2009, I was careful not to talk about our efforts because I never wanted it to be perceived as marketing. My parents raised me to know that talk is easy and it is what you do that counts. I wanted to be able to show that we were creating something truly impactful. Now that our Foundation has impact and scale, I am ready to talk about it. We have provided access to $57 million in affordable loans to 3,500 women entrepreneurs in the U.S. through our Capital Program with Bank of America. Our Company is committed to our Foundation and supporting women, and has given $20 million to the Tory Burch Foundation to help empower women. We walk the walk and we are committed to supporting women globally in their efforts to do the same.”
“Walk the Walk” nods to Tory’s long-standing dedication to making a difference in women’s lives through her eponymous company and the Tory Burch Foundation, which provides access to capital, education and digital resources, as well as a Fellowship program. Over the last ten years, the Foundation has emerged as a powerful resource and go-to destination for women entrepreneurs in the United States. In addition to the Foundation’s Capital Program with Bank of America, 10,000 women have created their business plans on the Foundation’s website; and 50 fellows annually receive mentoring and grants through its signature Fellows Program.
The campaign’s call to #EmbraceAmbition echoes the Foundation’s ongoing global initiative to address the double standard that exists around ambition. Natalia Vodianova and Anok Yai share Tory’s commitment to embracing ambition and creating positive change. Natalia has used her modeling platform to make a difference at home in Russia and internationally, championing children with special needs and their families and investing in women-focused businesses. Anok was working toward a biochemistry degree before becoming a model and is interested in challenging gendered cultural expectations.
In the Philippines, actress Janine Gutierrez, stylist Kat Cruz, and Miss World 2013 Megan Young all showed their support for the campaign with their own take on how they embrace ambition in today’s challenging times.
Visit www.toryburch.ph to view the Spring/Summer 2020 collection.