NEW YORK — Tory Burch’s long-awaited sport concept may be here sooner rather than later.
The line, called Tory Sport, will operate across several channels of distribution, including brick-and-mortar and e-commerce at torysport.com with versions for PCs, tablets and mobile commerce. Editorial and social messaging will include a Tory Sport blog and presence on social media.
Burch has described the line as “a major step. It’s creating another brand. It’s being designed in-house and marries function and style. It will be yoga, running, some tennis and golf.”
The designer has pegged the line’s launch date as 2015, but hasn’t elaborated.
Burch has reportedly zeroed in on a location for the sport line, on Fifth Avenue in the hot Flatiron District.
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News of the sport line first surfaced two years ago when Gigi Mortimer, a former design director at Vera Wang and Ralph Lauren, was hired, presumably to work on Sport.
Asked about the Fifth Avenue location in the Flatiron District, a spokeswoman for Troy Burch said only, “We cannot confirm at this time.”
Burch, who grew up playing sports and is an avid tennis player, has been hinting about launching a sport line for several years.
She collaborated with Fitbit, the fitness tracker, on a Tory Burch for Fitbit accessories collection that included pieces based on her signature open-fretwork design and a silicone-printed bracelet in her signature colors and prints. Burch has introduced new items into the collection such as a double-wrap leather bracelet.
The company has been advertising for talent to build out the Sport ranks. An ad for a creative director listed responsibilities as “working with the president of Tory Sport, director of marketing and Tory Burch creative team to establish clear guidelines around Tory Sport visual language.”
Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District is in demand with retailers. The area has strong office and residential components and attracts tourists. Lululemon and Bonobos recently signed leases to open stores there. Asking rents are in the high $400 per-square-foot to more than $500 per-square-foot, according to real estate brokers.