Business

Tory Burch fires back at ex-husband Chris with copycat suit

Hang onto your handbags: the battle between the Burches is heating up.

Tory Burch sued its namesake designer’s ex-husband, Chris Burch, today, accusing him of systematically stealing the fashion label’s secrets as he prepared last fall to launch C. Wonder, his own downmarket retail chain.

Allegedly misusing his position as co-chairman of Tory Burch while developing C. Wonder, the suit charges that Chris Burch “repeatedly asked for and was given full and complete access to competitively sensitive information about the company and its best-selling products.”

A spokesperson for Chris Burch — who last month sued the Tory Burch label for allegedly blocking his efforts to sell his 28-percent stake in the company for upwards of $600 million — couldn’t immediately be reached to comment on the charges, filed late Monday in Delaware Chancery Court.

Tory and Chris Burch started the company in 2004 and separated a year later before getting divorced in 2007.

According to the Monday suit, Chris Burch used competitive information at Tory Burch to knock off its distinctive fashions and accessories, such as large-buttoned sweaters and handbags and wallets that bear big, brass-lettered logos.

In addition to familiar-looking merchandise, Tory Burch claimed it was surprised by the look of C. Wonder’s first store, which opened in Soho in October 2011.

“The store copied the Tory Burch brand image — from the lacquered front doors, to the store fixtures, to the furnishings, area rugs and wall treatments, to the packaging design, to the merchandising,” the suit alleged.

During the two years leading up to C. Wonder’s October 2011 launch, Chris Burch led Tory Burch directors to believe C. Wonder’s stores and products would have little overlap with the fashions and accessories at Tory Burch, according to the suit.

Chris Burch had told the company that C. Wonder would sell items such as “home goods, electronics, surfboards, motor scooters, refrigerators, washers and dryers, nondescript basic apparel, coffee makers, and vacuum cleaners,” the suit charged.

In addition to allegedly blocking his efforts to sell a stake in Tory Burch, Chris Burch on Oct. 2 accused the company of using its market power to pressure suppliers and landlords not to do business with C. Wonder.

jcovert@nypost.com