Nick and Henry Burch on Butter Baby and Brotherhood
People often say, “Twin brothers are like two sides of the same coin, inseparable and perfectly matched.” This couldn’t be more true for Nick and Henry Burch, the twin sons of fashion designer Tory Burch. Based in Jakarta, Indonesia since 2022, the 28-year-olds New Yorkers are the creative minds behind Butter Baby, a character-led dessert brand known for its playful donuts, sweets and drinks. Earlier in Jakarta during the cafe opening, GQ Hong Kong sat down with the brothers to test their chemistry firsthand.
GQ: How did the idea of Butter Baby come about and who came out with the idea?
Nick: Since we were very little, my brother and I loved cookies and donuts. And we were really inspired by a lot of amazing brands and people around the world. So when we moved to Indonesia, we felt like we could do something really special and bring together the locals and the people from around the world to create something that is really imaginative.
Henry: And we think storytelling is one of the most important things in life and I think that with Butter Baby, there’s a whole backstory. Butter Baby is an alien from Butterlandia and has crash-landed in Jakarta with a universe of cosmic desserts. He is here to open a portal into a new world of flavour, feeling and floating donuts.
Nick: And it was both me and Henry. Yeah we both came up with it together.
Who’s the older twin?
H: So, it’s funny, I always get asked this question about who’s older. My mom decided to never tell us. She actually locked our birth certificates away, because she didn’t want there to be an older twin, so we really don’t know. But sometimes I feel like the older twin.
N: I have a theory that I may be older and he has theories that he may be older, but we never know.
How do you envision Butter Baby to be in the future?
H: My hopes for the future of Butter Baby is that we can bring as much love and fun to as much of the world as possible and really, really always be inspired by the places we go and the people we meet.
In this working relationship, what are your individual roles and how do you guys complement each other?
N: I would say Henry is really the tastemaker when it comes to the branding, aesthetic and packaging.
H: I think Nick has an amazing ability at storytelling, the marketing and fun stuff like that, he’s really good at it.
People often say that brothers shouldn’t work together. How do you feel about this, and how are you gonna prove these people wrong?
N: So it’s actually funny — we don’t have a choice. When we were 13 years old, my mom and father both decided that whatever we do in life, we have to split three ways between my brother Henry, my little brother, Sawyer who’s also a very important part of our lives. I look at it as a blessing that we’re able to do stuff together.
H: And really, what we’ve been raised with is, one, family first. And two, giving back. And we really plan on doing something special for everywhere we go in the world.
What is your most profound shared childhood memory and how has that influenced your relationship?
N: I would say for me, the most profound childhood memory, when it comes to how it influenced this brand in particular, was seeing how my mother designed her logo on the kitchen table of my apartment and really go walking through the branding process for her company, Tory Burch and, you know, being inspired by the amazing people she’s worked with, but just everyone in general.
H: And going back to my point, my mom always told us she started the Tory Burch Foundation to give back to the community and really spreading love is something that’s really in our ethos as a brand.
How did you guys come to the decision to relocate to Jakarta, and what was the idea behind it and what do you like the most about the city?
H: So, first of all, we’re beyond grateful to be here in Indonesia, and this country has been so loving and welcoming to us, and I just want to say thank you to the Indonesian people. And what I love about Jakarta is that this city is extremely youthful and creative. There’s so much energy here. Everyone in this country is the nicest person I’ve ever met.
N: For me, it was a funny moment. I was actually back home in New York and I remember one night I woke up and I was like, this doesn’t feel like home anymore for me. And I felt way more at home being in Indonesia and Asia in general, for reasons I don’t know yet, but I’m just very, very grateful for everyone here.
As twins, do you guys have secret codes or like unspoken rituals that others don’t understand, and what is it?
H: I think when we want to get a point across, we keep each other in check. He’ll give me a look and I’ll immediately understand what it means and vice versa. And actually, our little brother, Sawyer, really is the tastemaker of the family, and we actually look to him for advice.
H: So for me and Henry, I think that we’ve always been the checks and balances of each other. So when one person is, you know, not acting the way that we would want to be presented as, we always are there for each other.
Are you guys competitive against each other?
H: I would say that we are not competitive unless it’s within sports. We love surfing and we also love to play tennis. I think when it comes to sports, we can get pretty competitive. And that’s really where most of our fights come from when we’re playing sports.
N: I think something that my mom and dad really raised us with is to understand that we were a unit and that the weakest link is how the whole brotherhood was represented.
What was your worst argument and how do you guys break it up?
N: I think that whenever we argue, I would say that for the last 10 years, we’ve both had the realisation that nothing comes from negativity and that love is always the answer. So really it’s about reminding ourselves that we love each other and always referencing back to that.
H: And we actually have never gone to bed being mad at each other, or we’ve always made up within that day. And we think that love is such an important quality and aspect of our lives.
