Tory Burch x Humberto Leon’s New L.A. Pop-Up Features Hollywood-Loved Hoop Dress

Fashion designer Tory Burch has partnered with fellow fashion designer-turned-restaurateur Humberto Leon on a new Los Angeles pop-up shop, open this week at 8483 Melrose Avenue at the corner of La Cienega Boulevard. The Tory Burch x Humberto Leon concept shop, dubbed The Laboratory, will serve as a temporary outpost for Burch through the end of the year, while her flagship Tory Burch store on Rodeo Drive is undergoing renovations. 

L.A.-based Leon — the co-founder of Opening Ceremony and former co-creative director at Kenzo — curated the pop-up’s assortment of Tory Burch apparel and accessories; designed the store interior (including Chiclet-like pink seating and strawberry-shaped vases commissioned from Mexican designer-architect Aranza Garcia) and teamed with Burch to design special-edition concert-style T-shirts, sweatshirts and tote bags. The merch riffs on German photographer Walter Schels’ blown-up photos of cats and bunnies, also featured prominently on the interior decor, and on T-shirts, cargo trousers and a skirt from Burch’s resort 2024 collection. 

“I wanted to make some unisex pieces that felt fun and easy,” says Leon (founder of L.A. restaurants Chifa and Arroz & Fun), speaking of the collaborative Tory Burch merch. As to the store’s proposition of styling Burch’s clothing in new ways, he says, “I like the idea of treating all clothing equally, whether it’s a ballgown or a T-shirt. I think the idea of just choosing pieces that make sense gives an effortless outfit.”

The store also showcases the first drop of pieces from the Tory Burch Spring 2024 collection, including
Burch’s Hoop dress, which has turned out to be a Hollywood favorite — worn by Emily Ratajkowski on the runway, Hailey Bieber during Paris Fashion Week and Selena Gomez for an editorial shoot. Nicole Kidman donned a black sequined crochet iteration of the Hoop dress in New York in November. 

The brand has long had a loyal Hollywood following. In September, Uma Thurman, Naomi Watts, Hari Neff, Lori Harvey, Emma Roberts, Suki Waterhouse, Chloe Fineman and Leon Bridges all turned up for the label’s Spring 2024 runway presentation in the atrium of the Richard Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

A first-time nominee for Womenswear Designer of the Year at the 2023 CFDA Fashion Awards, Burch has given her 20-year-old brand fresh momentum and a slightly more minimalist look in recent years. Her husband Pierre-Yves Roussel, former CEO of the LVMH Fashion Group, took over as CEO of the Tory Burch brand in 2019, allowing Burch to refocus on design as chief creative officer and executive chairman. In his previous job, Roussel happened to play a prime role in hiring Leon and Carol Lim as co-creative directors of Kenzo in 2011.

Burch spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the pop-up project, what’s on her art radar, the one actress she would love to dress and more.

Tell us about how this pop-up project came about.

It was kind of this crazy organic thing. First of all, our L.A. store was just closed to be renovated and it’s going to take a year. We are literally gutting the whole store. So we found this amazing pop-up that was available for a year on Melrose. Humberto and I have known each other for a very long time, since he opened Opening Ceremony. And, of course, my husband worked with him when he cast him at Kenzo. I thought what Humberto was doing was so creative and unique and he’s certainly a master at merchandising. We had always wanted to do something together and this seemed like a perfect fit with him being based in L.A. We put our collections in a showroom, Humberto came to New York, and it was really fascinating and refreshing to see his take on putting things together — how he took our runway collection and mixed it in with sport and tennis and then the accessories he chose. It was pretty easy, I have to say. We’re very in synch. As soon as I said to him that I wanted something strange and unusual, he was like, “Yes, that sounds great!” I definitely wanted this to present how we are today. And the brand is definitely a more personal extension of me today.

Can you speak to the brand DNA and your shift to a more minimalist aesthetic?

After my husband came on board, five years ago this week, to run the company and be the CEO, it really allowed me to express what I’m passionate about and that’s the creative part of the company. Now I spend 100 percent of my time on the design. On many levels, I feel like I’m just starting. I have time to really reflect and think about the essence of how I see women today, as eclectic and individuals. I love that they have a take on our collections and make it their own. I want to be a problem solver, and I want to create beautifully made pieces that have incredible fit. I’m incredibly technical. I spend a lot of time on proportion and fabrics.

The Hoop dress has become an “It” dress of sorts; was it inspired by a crinoline?

I was looking at what held women back, and I thought a lot about the interior of clothing from the past and being restricted. I’m really inspired by seeing women dress today, how they’re embracing their shapes and their bodies and feeling confident doing that. So I was interested in making a dress sculptural but also freeing at the same time. If you feel that dress, it’s light as a feather. The fabric is so incredibly weightless.

Can you speak to how you connected with Walter Schels‘ work?

He’s an incredible genius. First of all, I’m a complete animal lover. So the way he takes portraits of animals and humanizes them, you see there’s no hiding anything in their eyes. You’re seeing the most raw version of who they are. He does that with people, as well — he did an incredible portrait of Andy Warhol — but his portraits of animals have always inspired me. They are what they are and he catches them in all kinds of movements and emotions and you sort of stop in your tracks when you look at his work. Animals are heroes. So that was really the beginning of what attracted me to his work and I used it for our resort collection.

Being an art history major and having collaborated with other artists, who do you personally collect and who is inspiring you in the art world right now?

I wouldn’t call myself an art collector. I’m enthusiastic about art and I collect eclectic things I love when I see them. It could be beautiful pottery or a modern artist or a folk artist or something from a flea market. I love the colors of Helen Frankenthaler. And Betty Woodman has something called “wallpaper,” where these tiny pieces of sculpture come together on a wall and it looks like a piece of modern art; then you get closer, and they are all individual pieces. She’s amazing! I love Lucie Rie, the potter, and Clementine Hunter. Growing up in Pennsylvania, I was exposed to folk art and there are so many folk artists I find interesting.

Is there anyone in Hollywood you would particularly like to dress?

Taking Phoebe Bridgers to the Met Ball and designing that dress for her [in 2023] was so much fun. I love Naomi Watts and Yara Shahidi and Kerry Washington, thinking of people that we dress sometimes. But I guess if I had to think of someone we haven’t dressed yet, it’s Cate Blanchett. I love her style.

Is more red carpet dressing in the cards for your brand?

It’s not our core business, but I love the challenge of looking at the person and really thinking about them individually, so I definitely see doing a little bit more of that.

Are there other key areas in which you are growing your brand?

The thing that I’m implementing is the concept of innovation and evolution. What we did with our Ella Bio Tote [made with a sustainable leather alternative in partnership with biotechnology company Modern Meadow] is we’re really experimenting with biomaterials. We all know we need to do better at that as an industry. Also, we are launching fragrances right now with Shiseido that were designed for the Middle East that are really different and unique and powerful, but not overwhelming. So I’m thrilled about that.