FULL CIRCLE

As Tory Burch celebrates 20 years, her sense of mission is stronger than ever.

- Véronique Hyland

It was 2004, the year of "Nipplegate" at the Super Bowl halftime show and sexist late-night talk show barbs. Ambition, Tory Burch recalls, was a dirty word for women back then, to the point where she recalls "shying away when a journalist asked me [about it] in a sort of negative way" as she was launching her namesake brand. That turned out to be a galvanizing moment for her, she says now. "I think it really cemented in me the desire to make it known that it was great for women to be ambitious."

Growing up in pastoral Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, with three brothers and parents who told her she was equal to any man, Burch says, "I didn't realize that women would be treated differently" in the workplace. When she entered the fashion industry, "I saw a very different scenario. I don't know if it was because a lot of my bosses were men at the time, but I just think women are held to different expectations."

Tory Burch, the brand, was an instant hit, with the designer's colorful printed tunics and Reva logo ballet flats becoming bestsellers. Oprah called her "the next big thing in fashion," and as with most things, Oprah was right. But beneath the shiny surface-Tory Burch, the woman, now admits-there was a fluttering of uncertainty. "I literally knew nothing when I first started," she says. "I had never designed; I had never run a business. So it was trial by fire, and learning as I went." She first raised funding for the brand by approaching a group of 110 friends and family members. "I said, 'Give what you're not scared of losing,' because I was so terrified of taking people's money."