Walk the Walk with Tory Burch

“Walk the walk,” a 20th century American idiom that means “showing others about something by your own footsteps, your own example of the way to do it.” You yourself are walking the way for them to follow by your own life.

Titling her Spring/Summer 2020 global campaign “Walk the walk,” then linking it to the Tory Burch Foundation’s Embrace Ambition global initiative, designer Tory Burch arguably became a torch bearer for feminism and gender equality.

The campaign is also perfectly timed. It coincides with the International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. And more importantly, 2020 is also the centennial year of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, better known as the women’s right to vote.

The campaign features powerful images and video of Natalia Vodianova, Anok Yai, and 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.”

“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 in the U.S., as well as a Fellowship program.

The new 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.

Tory’s message of women’s empowerment was front and center at her recent Fall/Winter 2020 runway show at Sotheby’s in New York. Set against a backdrop of eleven powerful sculptures by the artist Francesca DiMattio, whose work “imbues the decorative with strength and power,” models walked the runway to a live performance by singer-songwriter Alice Smith of the 1963 classic “You Don’t Own Me.”