Tory Burch May Be Suing Her Business Partner Who Is Also Her Ex-Husband

Business is meeting pleasure for Tory Burch this Valentine’s Day. Or what used to be pleasure actually and is now more of a headache. According to Styleite, she’s thinking about taking her ex-husband and co-chair of the board of directors of her company Chris Burch to court over his new retail line, C. Wonder. Women’s Wear Daily reports that no lawsuit has been filed yet, but that Tory might take Chris, a venture capitalist who’s looking to sell his stake in Tory Burch Inc., to court for “trade dress infringement or usurpation of corporate opportunity.” Though sources say Chris Burch’s brand is trying very hard to differentiate its cute, preppy and brightly colored things from Tory Burch’s cute, preppy and brightly colored things, there is no doubt that the two have been compared since his store opened in November.

It has not been made clear whether Tory is taking Chris’s new venture as a compliment or a robbery of her ideas. According to Styleite, The New York Post had written a story about the potential lawsuit, but a source told WWD that it won’t go to press. It will be interesting to see if the lawsuit does surface but it wouldn’t be surprising if Chris did try to follow in his wife’s successful footsteps as head of a hugely successful retail line. In the past few months her company has expanded with new store openings in London, Rome and Mexico planned for this year as well as a flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York that opened in the fall. She is also moving into new product categories, including jewelry and swimwear. Tory Burch fragrances and beauty products as well as sports clothing for yoga, tennis and golf are also in the pipeline. The company, which employs about 1,000 people, is expected to have revenue of approximately $500 million this year. Tory Burch is among the top 10 brands for Saks Fifth Avenue in terms of sales revenue. In September the Tory Burch brand announced its partnership with Chalhoub Group,the distributor and retailer of luxury brands in the Middle East. The company is also expected to go public sometime this year, according to WWD. “Tory Burch broadly fits the profile of a company that could go public: it has established enough of a presence to prove its viability, but still has room to grow.”