At the Pierre Hotel on Thursday, the Tory Burch Foundation hosted its second annual Founders Breakfast, honoring Anna Wintour and three women entrepreneurs. For a lingerie historian, the event resonates beyond fashion’s usual orbit. The foundation, launched in 2009, has generated $470 million in economic impact toward a $1 billion goal by 2030—a figure that echoes how undergarments, once hidden, have become symbols of economic agency. The corset, after all, was both a cage and a tool for posture; today’s entrepreneurs wear their ambition like a well-fitted bra: supportive, structured, but never restrictive.
Tory Burch herself, whose eponymous label began in 2004 with a bohemian tunic, understands that dressing for success often starts with what’s underneath. Her foundation’s 400 Fellows now exceed $1 billion in annual revenue—ten times the national average for women-owned businesses. Among them: Viola Sutanto of Maika, who turned a daughter’s bone marrow crisis into an 800% e-commerce surge; Andrea Seymour of Springdale Custom Builders, who leveraged her fellowship into a $12 million construction firm; and Pilar Guzman of Half Moon Empanadas, whose 78% female workforce earns $24.75 an hour—far above the industry average. These women are lacing up the structural stays of commerce.
Anna Wintour, honored with the Iconic Founder Award, recalled her father’s advice: hire people you like. She also noted that she rarely wears black, a rebellion against the funereal uniformity of 1980s fashion weeks—a reminder that lingerie, too, shed its beige conformity for color and personality. As the Met Gala approaches, Wintour’s legacy—like a well-engineered garter belt—holds up an entire industry. The foundation’s work proves that when women support each other’s bottom lines, the whole wardrobe stands taller.
Originally reported by WWD